Train pass...CHECK!

Dropped another chunk of change on my sure to be life changing adventure...



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With this pass, I have 15 travel days in:

Austria, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and/or Greece

First signs of Fear

As I have been trying to work out my itinerary, I have become stressed and scared about how I'm going to do all this. It's a good thing I bought the plane tickets before I really thought this through. Now instead of backing out, I just have to work through it.

Deep down, I know that this will be one of the best experiences of my life.  It will definitely be the best experience of my young adult life.  I have spent the past year checking things off my bucket list such as skydiving and running a half marathon.  This trip will check off more than half of my list, and it will be so worth it. I just need to get over there.

Things I need to remember:

"Fear is the thief of dreams." 

and

"Fear is nothing more than an obstacle that stands in the way of progress. In overcoming our fears, we can move forward, stronger and wiser within ourselves."

Good advice

I have been reading on Rick Steve's website practically all day.  So far, this has been my favorite advice:

Wear a real or fake wedding ring and carry a picture of a real or fake husband. There's no need to tell men that you're traveling alone, or whether you're actually married or single. Lie unhesitatingly. You're traveling with your husband. He's waiting for you at the hotel. He's a professional wrestler who retired from the sport for psychological reasons.

Plane tickets bought

Flight Information:

                                 Bkng                          Meals/ Seat/

Day Date       Flight     Status Class       City        Time  Other  Cabin

--- ----- --------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ------ -------

Tue 24JAN DELTA 954         OK     T   LV SALT LAKE     1110A    V     33D

                                          CITY                        COACH

                                       AR DETROIT       444P        

Tue 24JAN DELTA 6           OK     T   LV DETROIT       630P     D     27C

                                       AR LONDON-       730A#         COACH

                                          HEATHROW      

Mon 26MAR DELTA 11          OK     T   LV LONDON-       900A     B     28E

                                          GATWICK                     COACH

                                       AR ATLANTA       130P        

Mon 26MAR DELTA 1835        OK     T   LV ATLANTA       945P     V     16C

                                       AR SALT LAKE     1157P         COACH 

                                                  

That's right people! THIS IS FOR REAL!   Even since I pushed "Confirm" on Delta's website I have felt completely nauseous...in a good way...I hope!  

My mom said it sounded scary, but my dad couldn't get over how awesome my idea sounded. He did have some advice, but mostly just about things that I need to be sure and see while I'm over there. I wanted to book my flights ASAP so that I could get cheap tickets.  These tickets only cost $773.90!!!  That's actually about 65 bucks cheaper than I was planning on from research last week, so that's awesome.  

I can't believe this is really happening. I emailed UVU and declined the offer to interview for their nursing program. It's official...I'm going to EUROPE!

I might pee. Or barf. 

Origin of this Idea

Hello friends!  This is the beginning of a 6 month journey to awesomeness. I won't even be leaving until January, but I couldn't contain my excitement!  I'll start off this blog by giving a very detailed background behind this idea.

Seriously, this all started when I graduated from high school in 2009.  I decided to come out to UVU because I wanted to do their nursing program. BYU was too uptight and Weber was too chillax...UVU was the happy medium.  After a bazillion changes to the program, 2 1/2 years of prerequisites, and an "11th alternate" position, I decided I didn't want to go through UVU's program anymore. Not because it would be hard...I can do hard things...but because it's RIDICULOUS! Their changes have cost me an extra year of school (both time and money), and they obviously don't have their program sorted out yet.  So this semester I'm working on some classes to get extra points for Weber State's application process (they do a points system).  So this is relevant to my trip to Europe because Weber's program only starts in the Fall, so I have absolutely no classes I need to take in the Spring.

I thought about just taking classes for the heck of it because I'm on scholarship...I thought about just working and saving up lots of moneys for whatever I'm saving up for...then, my coworker (and friend) gave me the idea to go live in Europe.

I've been trying to talk my dad into a trip to Europe for about a year now.  I've really wanted to go see the sites and explore for a couple of weeks.  I've been to Mexico, but other than that I haven't been out of the country. My dad never committed to the trip so now I'm planning one of my own....

My friend suggested house sitting or au pair work.  After much googling, I came across the website that he had forgotten the name of: www.workaway.info/.  This website allows "hosts" and "workawayers" to get in contact with each other.  Hosts have work that needs to be done at bed and breakfasts, around the house, in the garden, with the kids, etc. and they give workawayers room and board (that includes food) in exchange for their work.  This idea really appealed to me because while I want to see the sites in Europe, I also want to LIVE the life of a European.  I totally live in a Mormon bubble and have for most of my life.  Working away will give me free room and board and the experience of a lifetime!

My opportunity to travel is now. Once I get married and have kids, I just won't have the time or money to ever do something like this.  I have a totally free semester to do whatever I please, and what better way to spend that time than in Europe?

I'm going from January to March, when it's cold and extra specially rainy.  And I'm doing this because I will be selling my apartment contract in December and moving home because I won't be coming back to Provo after Europe, and I don't want to be paying rent while I'm gone. I'll be quitting my job to go to Europe, and instead of trying to find a new one near Weber and then leaving for two months during the summer, I can just be unemployed for 2 months and then come home and find a job for the summer and get settled in it for when school starts in the Fall.

So there you have it...my thought processes and the origin of this whole idea Thank you Ryan, for the great idea. Thank you dad for not committing to take me to Europe. Thank you UVU for ruining my 4 year degree. and Thank you workaway.info for helping me find some awesome families to stay with!

I'm so excited!