Less than a month to go (alright yes, I do know the exact countdown as I am sharing my thoughts with you: 28 days, 19 hours and 10 minutes) and this is official: my brain has started to misbehave. Damn you, brain! Among others, I have forgotten skype dates, have double booked myself or have forgotten to request some important documents… Oops! I guess my brain, overloaded with all the things I still have to do, is screaming out loud: what the hell are you doing?

Fair enough… It was about time for him to question my decision, I guess. I have been so numb from the excitement, it was almost like being on a honeymoon with myself, I was somehow spared from the usual feelings such as stress, fear and sadness. Luckily the two latter haven’t hit me yet. Sadness, you wonder? How can you be sad when you are planing a trip of a lifetime? Well it happens and I am expecting sadness to come around anytime now.

But for now, I am feeling overwhelmed and when I am stressed by the amount of things to deal with, I start to wonder and doubt, I cannot help it. I start to think (a lot lot) and (over)analyze – this is what my friends actually call legitimately the Audrey’s overthinking. I am quite famous for it and I usually come up with a zillion of (more or less) good reasons why I (or we as a matter of fact) should not to travel and stay at home! Yes, even for a seasoned traveler, there are a few (many) reasons why we should not travel, why we should never ever go away from home, why we should say NON MERCI, NO THANKS, NEIN DANKE, NO GRAZIE, NO GRACIAS to travels.

1. The (oh too famous) FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) will become reality! OMG! I. WILL. OFFICIALLY. MISS. OUT *screaming out of my lungs*
Alright… What did we expect? Friends and family cannot exactly put their life on hold because we have suddenly decided to play “Dora the explorer”. True dat… Wait, is it supposed to make us feel better? No… But even though the thought of a FOMO is frightening, it shouldn’t keep you from traveling. Yes, I’ll miss out on some important moments from my beloved ones and I am gutted about it but I cannot stay at home, just for the sake of not missing any friends’ major events otherwise how can I make my own major events happen?

2. No more routine! 
Trying to decide if this is a bad or good thing… Routine can be boring! Yeah but routine can also be comforting. Touché! Work, exercise, go home, cook, sleep, repeat. Am I crazy to be afraid to leave this routine behind? Fortunately, travel, exercise, eat, sleep, repeat is pretty appealing too!!

3. My grandma won’t be able to call me every day
This is a tough one! We all know that our grandparents are not eternal and definitely want to spend as many quality times together as we can. Wait… Granny is a one hell of a cool cookie and can skype like a mother f*** (she does crack me up though every time by using a magnifier – she looks hilarious). Even though I feel guilty to leave her behind, I need to remember that through me she will travel while sitting comfortably in France (without risking breaking her hip or her femur). She always tells me that she enjoys looking at my pictures so I’ll have to make sure I have some wifi to show her central and South America, even better than pictures, right? Problem solved! Next!

4. Live out of a suitcase or more accurately out of a backpack
Ahhhhh who am I kidding?! My clothes are anyway rarely in my wardrobe, not ironed, not sorted by style nor color. They are most likely to be ‘elegantly’ thrown on a chair, ‘artistically’ deposed in the bathroom or folded on the corner of the bed (sorry mom! You have tried). It is quite funny though that a traveling mess bothers me more than a homely mess. Same same NOT different.

5. No brunch, no spontaneous catch up, no gossiping in real time, no instantaneous ‘OMG, guess what’ moments 
I cannot argue on this one… I will dearly miss those precious times with my friends. They are like family to me and they have a huge place in my heart. I will cherish those beautiful memories, take them with me and I will learn to appreciate even more our delayed ‘OMG, guess what’ moments.

Those could be good reasons that keep many people stranded at home. That said, as valid as those points are, they cannot outweigh my wanderlust and it is time to get my brain under control and implement the use of the fancy checking list I have prepared a few weeks ago and a few reminders! Allez hop!

Happy trails and remember: Carpe Diem!

Travelling backpacking countdown doubt excitement sabbatical traveling