T-24 hours till takeoff and I feel like I do sometimes right before the gun goes off at the start of a race. My heart is racing and the adrenaline is pumping. My mind is occupied with one thing, the race…or in this instance, travel. Then it fires…and you’re off. The nerves are squelched by settled anticipation. But now there is no looking back. It’s on. Anything could happen at this point but the suspense is over and the rest cruise control. Well, that’s how I feel right now.

After reading Cody’s blog, I’m thinking, ‘seriously how do I compete with that?’ Haha. Hmm, maybe i’ll just try to stick to what I do best, vlogging…behind the camera. Is that even a word? Well truth be told, I do enjoy videoing more than I do writing. It’s growing on me, though, and I’m pretty sure this journey is going to test that skill to the max.

Being the practical bee I am, maybe I might share a few tid-bits of travel what-not-to-dos and to-do’s I’ve learned throughout the years.

MONEY: TRAVELERS CHECKS OR CREDIT-CARDS?

Throw the traveler checks away. I’m trying to bring my mother out of the 90’s right now and there is no reason why you should be there either. Here’s the deal. We have ATM machines almost everywhere now, and the cost of cashing in those traveler checks along with the hassle of carrying them around outweighs the small fee in getting money from the ATM’s. What if you want to only exchange $25, but you only have a $50 traveler check. You catch my drift?

PACKING: LESSON LEARNED

Packing is critical and something everyone messes up to some degree the first time around. Let me spare you the pain of that. One would think a girl like me who has traveled around the world already would know how to pack. The truth is, most of my experience came when I was in my junior high years….and my sweet mother took care of all that ☺

How to brek your back

How to break your back

So when it came to my own experience, I decided to pack around a 90 liter b-pack (MENS by the way) for 6 weeks…you know, just to be sure I had enough room for everything to fit. Yeah I am embarrassed to say this. Stupid, I know. Although I was packing for two opposite climates, I still didn’t use a 3rd of what I brought. On top of that I bought some stuff. So you can imagine how ridiculous I looked with that gynormous thing. It’s true: less is more.

NEW HABITS?

Don’t try and start new habits on the road. If you would never wear that outfit (minus chacos) back home, take those vitamins daily, or buy that cool techno nick nack, the truth is you probably won’t do that while traveling. Just take your Airborne, a few comfy loose fitting items from the closet and you’re golden.  Well, maybe it’s a little more complicated than that.

Those are just a few things that come to mind right now. I think many more will come as the journey progresses.

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