Here I go

My plans today revolve almost entirely around making travel plans. I've done this before, plenty of times. And yet every single time I do I feel nervous and unsure of myself. I've been to Cuba and the Dominican, which were easy because I didn't do it alone at all, and all-inclusive resorts are no-muss, no-fuss.

I've been to Ireland, which was through Contiki a few year ago. Awesome time, by the way. You buy the tour package, a plane ticket and then figure out a way from the airport to the hotel you need to be at. Then you're done.

I've been to San Francisco to meet up with a good friend who lives in California. That entailed buying a plane ticket and finding a hotel and getting there from the airport.

And then my ultimate trip was the three-week backpack through the UK when I was 21. This was a work of art, minus the fact I left my wallet at home, whoops. That's an entirely different story.

I had to book the flight, buy a rail pass online, research and reserve hostels and bed and breakfasts, research the directions I'd need to get from the train stations to my accommodations, and look into all the things I'd want to do beforehand so I wouldn't miss anything after the fact. I spent three weeks on this. I was also fresh out of college and an internship and unemployed, so I had nothing else more pressing to do.

And travelling alone for weeks in a foreign country when you're a single woman means you can't just wing it either. Your safety could be dramatically compromised. It's either plan, plan, plan or face the prospect of having to wander alone late at night with no one you know aware of where you are, looking for a place you can afford to stay, bogged down by all your travel gear.

And even with that behind me, something as simple as booking a flight and hotel for a two night stay in California for a wedding makes me go, "Eeeeeeek!" Not sure why. I'm excited and happy about going.

I remember when I was in college and I was taking the Go Train from Oakville to Toronto for the weekend to see a friend. I didn't have to ask permission or anything. And as I was sitting on the train I felt so grown up. And feeling like a grownup made me feel like a little kid. Kind of a reminder of how adult you felt about finally going to high school only to realize how young you were. Being excited about personal freedom only serves to show you how new it all is.

So I'm going to make some calls. I've got a plane and a hotel to book.