It's a week later and I've done practically nothing, other than gather a pile of things together and throw them onto a bed in our guest room. This time next week I'll be on a plane headed overseas and I have no idea what I'm taking with me. I suddenly feel like I really haven't researched anything. My mum's best friend asked me what I was going to do in Barcelona. I looked at her blankly and said "um, look around?"
 |
| My packing nightmare - taking over the guest room! |
This
trip, I had felt like I had been super organised. This came with
necessity, because I was packing to move back to my parents place on
the Gold Coast from Sydney and so, while packing, it made sense to
start sorting aside things suitable for my travels. Some of it just
fell into place – I didn't need to let my bank know of my plans,
because they called me at 11pm on a Saturday night when I'd just made
a National Express bus booking for the UK and evidently, this was
suspicious. I've got some specific dates to work around and I have a
big hit list of cities to achieve in a short period of time – yes,
not the ideal way to travel, this I know – so the result has been
having to forgo being flexible and instead, I have the first month of
my trip pretty much all booked already. I'm leaving myself with a
little more flexibility for the second half, as I head further east
and I know that it won't be quite as necessary to book in advance as
it can be in western Europe with things filling up during the tail
end of shoulder season as it becomes peak season.
But
there are other things that I feel like I have no clue about – for
example, the hairdresser I referred to in my entry about hostel
hints, she asked me what clothes I was taking. I have no idea yet!
I'm not even sure if I'll have suitable clothes in my current
wardrobe or if I'll need to go shopping. I haven't updated my travel
budget in a gazillion years, I haven't organised my music, or my
address book, or my netbook. Some of these things are superficial,
but I think trying to keep on top of the little things is what stops
me from getting that feeling of panic or fear.
When
it comes to being organised for your travels, I think more of it
comes with intuition. The more you travel, the less you stress about
it. Airports are a breeze for me now, the process is like second
nature. Despite my lack of a good sense of direction, I'm getting
better and better at following the directions a hostel gives you to
find them.
I
think the most important lesson I've learned through all of my
experience is that there isn't a lot that is critically, vitally
important. Ultimately, as long as you have your money, flights,
insurance and travel documents in order – everything else is
manageable. If I forget to pack socks or toothpaste, I can buy it at
my destination. If I forget to print my hostel booking, doesn't
matter, they'll retrieve the details from the database and if for
some reason they lose it, I can insist they give me access to my
Hostelworld account so I can bring up the details for them. If I
forget to put a particular album on my iPod, I can 'acquire' it on
the road. If I don't have directions to get to a hostel, I can find
an internet cafe to look it up or just jump in a cab if I'm feeling
lazy/like splurging. None of it really matters, and I believe that
there is such a thing as being too organised. You need to be prepared
for the fact that things will go wrong, that regardless of how much
you try to be finicky and to have every aspect of your trip
itinerised and organised to the last minute – executing this is
practically impossible.
So in
these last days, I vow to not obsess about every last minute detail,
to trust my instincts and to enjoy the flexibility that comes with
deciding to be free.
Perhaps
I should find my passport though...
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