A badass ball of nerves

So far, this all might sound like I'm the biggest ball of nerves ever to try to throw on a backpack. Really though, I'm a road-hardened badass. Right, like I'm fooling you. Though really, it's not polite to fall on the floor laughing like that. Sheesh.

On the one hand, yeah, I do have my share of anxieties. I feel prepared, but hey, nerves are nerves and they have a mind of their own. I’ve read travel, talked travel, talked with travelers, and in general have spent ages just gleaning up tips and tidbits on how to travel.
I’ve been working at BootsnAll for 3 years; day in and day out, I live and breathe travel in some form or another. And you know what? I know that everything I’ve picked up here, every tip and wotsit, may be for naught. Every trip is different. I’ve learned much – but the road is the teacher, not the traveler. This Europe trip will be the biggest backpacking trip I’ve ever done – in fact, to my mind, it is really the first true, bonafide, blaze about and travel sort of trip that I’ve ever done. I’ve lived abroad before; I’ve roadtripped a bit – but that’s a far cry from throwing on a pack and blitzing around a continent for 4 months.
I can be prone to overthinking too. Details rule small kingdoms in my head. How do you do goatee care on the road? What do I do if a waiter overcharges me? Just how difficult is it, really, to use a Eurail pass? Are they really good value for money? Do you get eaten alive with reservation fees? Just how the hell do you haggle for a bunch of grapes anyway, or do you? How do I explain to a cybercafe manager that I need to restart that computer so I can plug in my speak’n’spell?
Bloody overactive imagination.
How much of a traveler’s fear is just anticipation? How much should be dismissed? How much should be examined, given full audience to?
Oh well. I have my anxieties, and anticipation is hell. I’ve picked up a lot of things, and I’ll pick up more on the way. For the moment I feel like I’m writing and reading, and spinning my wheels a touch. There are still weeks to go.
But really, I’m the biggest badass ball of nerves you’ll ever see in a backpack. 🙂
Okay – this post is done. Feel free to laugh uproariously now.