Friday, July 13, 2012

Molehills--> Mountains: EXPERT


Naturally, there is a bit of stress that comes when you are planning an international trip. This will be my sixth time traveling internationally, so it’s all to be a little expected. However, this is a very unique trip for me. Unlike all my other previous travels, I will be backpacking. Also different, we will be gone for four weeks. I’m still not sure yet if Emma and I are absolutely insane or genius to be gone for that long.

Well, there is the whole issue of booking flights, hostels/bungalows, budgeting for food, getting travel insurance, buying said backpack (big fat CHECK!), getting the proper vaccinations (in a foreign country, no less), visas, travel books, and thousands of other issues. And considering I turn into a tightly wound ball of stress at the slightest sign of a molehill, it’s been a miracle all my roommates are still in one piece (‘twas a close call when we got locked out recently. Don’t worry, both boys are still alive).
Receiving over-sized mail in Japan: possible
Emma has been awesome at everything. She’s a take-charge, everything-will-be-ok, decisive kind of optimist that I’m really excited to be traveling with. I’d like to think that I’m also an awesome travel partner, but that’s hard to support when I turn into a green monster if I’m not fed every four hours. To be quite open and honest with you all, the thing I am MOST worried about… is the bugs. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I've been camping since I could walk and can handle your average North American bug. But see here, Southeast Asia has a wholle different catalog of bugs. They are weird and foreign and strange (somehow, everything flies. Including spiders). And I live in a CITY in Japan. I have no idea what I'm going to encounter when Emma and I stay in some treehouse in the jungle. In Hanno alone, there have been really strange unrecognizable bugs. The weird thing is, they are all ironically large. The people are small and the bugs are HUGE.

There were two bugs (two, just two) on one of Emma’s Thailand photo album. That was all it took for me to question everything. Should I really be going? Maybe I should stay? Or go back to California where I at least recognize the bugs and can accurately assess HOW much I should be freaking out. I really wish I was kidding.

Right now I’m holding onto the fact that I’m overreacting. There won’t be THAT many bugs there. AND I can handle them. And if not, Emma has assured me that SHE can handle them.

I’m telling you all this so that when I write an entire post about the one time I flipped over having a giant what-cha-ma-call-it (bug, not the candy bar) land on my face, maybe you’ll understand a little.

No comments:

Post a Comment