Hey People, I'm Traveling. This is a Blog. I Will Write in This Blog*

           Since travelogues that aren’t continued after a week seem to be all the rage, here’s mine. I actually might keep it up though because I need an excuse to write and I also might repurpose it as a dumping ground for my writing at some point, or possibly during the trip. I dunno, we’ll see. I’ve been thinking of doing that for a while now.

First, let's set the mood. Why not introduce people to good music along the way?          

Anyway, to the point:

Holy shit.

That’s all I can really say right now. I've never left the country before, and tomorrow I leave for Europe for 3 months.

In lieu of actual vacation pictures, here's a stupid
thing I made a couple months ago to annoy a friend

            I don’t know how many times I’ve told people, “I’ll be spending 5 weeks in Rome and 5 weeks in Madrid and then exploring for a week after. I’m really looking forward to it. Should be a lot of fun,” but it’s become the mechanical response to any questions I’ve been asked about it over the last few months. I’m glad people care, but it’s also frustrating because I can’t really tell them anything because I haven't done anything yet. Conversations turn into me reciting my itinerary and subsequently getting barraged with new information about these locations. I truly appreciate the new information, but I feel the conversations are one-sided because I don't have anything to reply with other than stuff like, "wow, that sounds cool. I'll have to check it out."

            Next time you see me, I'm sure I’ll actually be able to give you something of substance.

            It’s a lot to take in. I’m still recovering from the insanity that was Winter Quarter at UC Davis and I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet. In all honesty, what I want most is to lay around my house or my apartment for a few days and not have to stress about anything. The planning will be worth it, but it's also a lot of stress.
           As excited as I am, I'm also nervous. I don't know what to expect and leaving for 3 months to a place I've never been with people I've never met is a major breach of my comfort zone, no matter how good of an experience I know it'll be.

            I leave LAX tomorrow at 8:45 AM and arrive in Rome Wednesday at 8:15 AM local time. So I'm going to be in transit for an entire day (though a lot of that is time difference). Of the things I'm looking forward to, this is not one of them. Since I imagine extreme levels of boredom tomorrow, I'll try and throw something entertaining together.
            I'll try to keep this updated as I can, though I may not post about it on social media unless I think it's really good. I hope at least some of you follow along.

            *Good God that title was terrible. It's better than those cheesy, "A new chapter of my life" or "the beginning of an adventure" type titles though, right? I want to avoid cheesy, cliché, and overly-sentimental crap at all costs while I'm doing this because that all pisses me off to no end.