First Post

So this is my first post. I wanted to create this blog to be able to share my experience I will go through while studying in Florence. I think this blogs lifespane is only going to be a month, but I am really hoping that I can keep up weekly posts. I am 7 days away from depaturing to Paris, France. For 5 days, I am going to be doing a pretour starting in Paris, then later on traveling to London. Each location we get one day of guided tours and the rest of the time is free. Sadly, 7 days from now is actually my birthday so I will be leaving on my birthday. Spending 11 hours on a plane is not ideal but if I had to look at it in another way, I am on a plane to Paris. That's not too shabby.

The picture I posted with this post is my big ol' empty suitcase. I have been stressing and freaking out about this trip because this is a pretty new and exciting thing. And because of that, it has distracted me from doing the essential things, such as packing. I am hoping to be at least 50-70% done packing the day before I leave. Knowing me, I will be rushing the last few mins before I have to leave for the airport. I am very excited but very nervous. I've been sharing this with everyone of course and everyones response is generally the same: "You are going to have such an amazing time, chill out." Yes, I know I am! But no one can prepare you for those initial emotions of what ifs?.

I've been mainly stressing about the language barrier, given I know no Italian. Also, I never thought I would ever think of this but I am actually bummed I am going to miss a lot of stuff while I am gone. I know that is lame to say but when friends are constantly making plans in front of you, knowing you have no way of being involved, yes that kind of sucks. Of course I am going to be doing way more interesting and exciting things but that level of knowledge of what exactly I am going to do hasn't settled in yet. And one of the worst fears is being homesick. I've never been this far away from home for this long before. Maybe if I get home sick now, I will get it all out of me and will be able to enjoy the time there. We shall see.

This is going to be an awfully big adventure.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” - Dr. Seuss