It is with a heavy heart...

That I tell you I had to decide to cancel my trip abroad. I was up all night with pain associated with a precious surgery, and I simply do not feel comfortable traveling out of the country when we still don't know what's causing the pain. The medicines don't seem to be working, and the last thing I want to happen is for it to get a lot worse when I am at a hostle in the Scottish highlands. 

The good news is that it seems like I will get to take a trip after all, in May of next year. There will be a maymester class that travels to England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and France, and it seems perfect for me. All I would have to do is delay my graduation ceremony until August. 

At this point, I'm not despairing as much as I feel grimly confident that this was the right call to make. I still have my sense of adventure, and those who know me know that I now will simply take pleasure in the fact that I have 10 months to look forward to and plan this new trip. 

So long, not good bye,

Joanna Meyer

Only a Day Away...

So here we are, just one day out. The tension is mounting. The nervous energy is climbing. All in a good way! Packing is totally finished. If I got an emergency telegram saying I had to leave this instant I could probably pull it off. The plan is still to arrive at the airport around four. 

Today mostly consists of double and triple checking to make sure I have everything before tomorrow. I seem to be all set. I promise the other posts won't be nearly as redundant as this. It's hard to come up with new material as this huge day cheerfully looms in the future. 

Now, if I could only get used to waking up early. I'm sure the time difference will be a bear. What is it, 12:00? And I'm still in my pjs. Tut, tut, tut. 

Five Days Till Departure

Alright, gang.

Today it's five days till I leave for my trip! I will be going to both England and Scotland, while visiting London, Cambridge, Bath, Edinburg, and Loch Ness.  My flight leaves on the 7th, and I will be arriving in London on the 8th. I am planning on meeting up with a few of my trip mates at the airport before I leave, so we will see how everything goes! Honestly, at this point, I'm looking forward to catching up on Netflix on the flight over there. If the flight doesn't have that little screen in the seat backs, I'm leaving. No questions asked. Beyond that, the plan is to catch a train from the airport at Kings Cross Station. Just like in the movies. The train will hopefully take me to Cambridge, and once there I will get a taxi to my hotel. And somehow remain awake.

Goals for the trip, so far:
1) Locate and identify a mature thistle.
2) See some kind of play.
3) Convince myself that I have seen the Loch Ness monster. Let's be honest. This is the only reason anyone is going.
4) Eat smoked salmon until I turn into one.
5) Do something spontaneous.
6) Pet an animal.
7) Hear Big Ben.
8) Buy something you can't find anywhere else.
9) Have "tea".
10) MAYBE go up the London eye. We'll see.
11) I don't even want fish and chips, so that's not on here.
12) Find a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and order an ice water, because God knows nobody can afford that.
13) Engage in Harry Potter/Doctor Who hoopla.
14) Go inside the Tower of London.
15) Step inside one of those red phone booths.

As you can see, some of these are lofty, some of them are probably achievable. We will see how my progress goes, and I will keep you posted!

Joanna