Volvos Everywhere
Five months from right now, I'll be on a plane to Copenhagen. Today, everywhere I went I saw Volvos. I still see this as a sign that I made the right decision. Of course, I've never doubted myself on this one. Not once. Because really, what could be more right than scratching something off your Bucket List?
Many people are aghast that I'm going alone. I haven't traveled abroad since I was in high school and that was with a group of tennis players. Everything was set out for us. All I had to do was follow the group and show up in the right place at the right time. This trip will be completely different. It'll all be on me. I'll have to get myself from A to B and do all the navigation in between. 100% of my time will be spent in unfamiliar surroundings while trying to communicate in a language I can barely speak.
All that said, "alone" is my favorite state of being, so why wouldn't I go alone? It sure sounds like a perfect idea sitting at Lola Savannah five miles down the road from my house in Austin, Texas. After all, most things in my life, I do alone. A trip to Scandinavia shouldn't need to be any different, should it?
Except for one thing - I don't like going new places by myself. It's a symptom of my introversion. My shrink helped me figure it out years ago. We created a plan to help me combat my fears and it works pretty good when I absolutely MUST go to new and strange places. I just don't do it very often. I don't like feeling the discomfort as it permeates my psyche.
Truly, the trip will be a battle of me at my best against me at my worst. I'll be alone, which I absolutely love, and I'll be going to all new places alone, which I absolutely hate. If I want to see anything but the inside of the Copenhagen airport, I'm going to have to take a flying leap out of my comfort zone. Maybe I'll spend my time curled up in the fetal position in a variety of hotel rooms across Sweden and Denmark. Or maybe after fourteen days of fighting my fears, I'll end up changing my comfort zone entirely.
Of course, I could end up agoraphobic and never leave my house again.
I doubt that, though. I'm doing my due diligence, just like my shrink taught me. I had the whole trip planned - hotels, B&B's, and vacation cottages - in July so I know where I'll be when. As the trip gets closer, I'll research travel routes, study maps, and look at train schedules. I've read up on the ins and outs of international travel and I'm studying Swedish (according to DuoLingo I'm 16% fluent as of this evening). In other words, I will be prepared so the unknown will seem a little less...well...unknown.
And, you know, as icky and uncomfortable as it may seem at the time, I have a history of fighting my fears and rising to the occasion. Plus, I keep seeing all those Volvos. Surely, that's as good an omen as any.
Many people are aghast that I'm going alone. I haven't traveled abroad since I was in high school and that was with a group of tennis players. Everything was set out for us. All I had to do was follow the group and show up in the right place at the right time. This trip will be completely different. It'll all be on me. I'll have to get myself from A to B and do all the navigation in between. 100% of my time will be spent in unfamiliar surroundings while trying to communicate in a language I can barely speak.
All that said, "alone" is my favorite state of being, so why wouldn't I go alone? It sure sounds like a perfect idea sitting at Lola Savannah five miles down the road from my house in Austin, Texas. After all, most things in my life, I do alone. A trip to Scandinavia shouldn't need to be any different, should it?
Except for one thing - I don't like going new places by myself. It's a symptom of my introversion. My shrink helped me figure it out years ago. We created a plan to help me combat my fears and it works pretty good when I absolutely MUST go to new and strange places. I just don't do it very often. I don't like feeling the discomfort as it permeates my psyche.
Truly, the trip will be a battle of me at my best against me at my worst. I'll be alone, which I absolutely love, and I'll be going to all new places alone, which I absolutely hate. If I want to see anything but the inside of the Copenhagen airport, I'm going to have to take a flying leap out of my comfort zone. Maybe I'll spend my time curled up in the fetal position in a variety of hotel rooms across Sweden and Denmark. Or maybe after fourteen days of fighting my fears, I'll end up changing my comfort zone entirely.
Of course, I could end up agoraphobic and never leave my house again.
I doubt that, though. I'm doing my due diligence, just like my shrink taught me. I had the whole trip planned - hotels, B&B's, and vacation cottages - in July so I know where I'll be when. As the trip gets closer, I'll research travel routes, study maps, and look at train schedules. I've read up on the ins and outs of international travel and I'm studying Swedish (according to DuoLingo I'm 16% fluent as of this evening). In other words, I will be prepared so the unknown will seem a little less...well...unknown.
And, you know, as icky and uncomfortable as it may seem at the time, I have a history of fighting my fears and rising to the occasion. Plus, I keep seeing all those Volvos. Surely, that's as good an omen as any.
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