Packing and the Peril of Procrastination

Good news is I have successfully made it to my layover on my way to Madrid for my first days of orientation. Surprisingly I am not too tired either, which comes as a shock to me considering the past few nights I have been tossing and turning over the dreadful process of packing.  I have been woken in the midst of my slumber to nightmares of forgetting my luggage, not even packing, and wondering if I have everything that I need.  This anxiety was of course only heightened by my, well, constant procrastination.  Packing seems so much easier if you just put it off and put it off because you don't want to do it.  Well frankly you never will actually want to do it, just come to the point where you have to.  And as if deciding which minimal amounts of your life you can carry along to the unknown isn't bad enough, there is the looming dread of the baggage weight limit.  Oh the 50 pound limit, it will get ya everytime.  And then you find the heaviest things are the things that you need and the lightest things that you have to ditch to make the weight were the ones that you wanted.  There is just about no ease in anxiety until you check in and the tag is put on your bag showing that your tireless efforts have passed the test and you will not in fact have to pull out items of your bag, along with your hair.  So my advice, don't put off the packing process until the day that you are leaving.  It will only add to more anxiety and probably lead to you forgetting what all you put in the bag anyway.  Now here's to hoping that it is all still in tact and arrives safely at my destination!!

Ready, Set...Wait it's Time to Go?

Being a student at the University of Denver, you hear about studying abroad all the time.  Almost everyone does it and they make the process pretty simple.  I remember my campus visit during my junior year of high school and hearing about the study abroad opportunity.  It was so exciting to hear about the opportunities and adventures that students experience abroad, and at that moment I knew that I just had to go.  Last fall began the information sessions, the student stories, and hearing all about the wonders of studying in a foreign country.  Then came the endless cycle of gathering information on the hundred different country options and making a decision.  After some deliberation and on a bit of a whim, Bilbao, Spain became the future destination of my explorations abroad.  Finalizing all of the paperwork and forms seemed endless, but finally the list was all checked off.  Now I am down to my final days at home and I haven't quite wrapped my mind around what lies ahead of me.  I can't believe I'm about to go on such a journey.  In less than a week (I fly out Thursday morning), I will be in a different country, and won't be coming home in only a matter of a few weeks (try 16 or so).  I'm very excited for the adventures I will have, yet very anxious for what lies in the unknown.  Even as I type it, I still can't believe this is for real life!  Maybe it will hit me when I'm at the airport and boarding my plane.  Of course I have some time to think about it during my six hour layover in Toronto.  Maybe it wont hit me until I'm moved into my host family's house in Bilbao.  Either way, I know I'm lucky to have such an opportunity to experience such an adventure, that I hope I will never forget.  So here's to taking a big leap into a big adventure, but first I bettter pack!!!

-Whitney

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."