In six days I will be leaving the U.S. for the first time in my life. Well, excluding that one day trip to Tijuana when I was in the third grade. I leave at 10:50am on January 16th and at 12:50pm on January 17th (their time) I will land in my home for the next four months, Montpellier, France.
Needless to say, I'm terrified.
I have some pretty amazing people in my life here at home, and I'm going to miss them terribly. Plus, there's the whole having to fit my entire life into two suitcases thing. Not easy, I must say. The past semester has been extremely stressful, trying to prepare myself to leave, take care of school work, and have enough fun with my friends here to last next semester too.
I have a feeling it's going to be worth the trouble.
I know that I'm not going to be the same person when I return, and I'm preparing myself for that as well. I'm so excited to travel, and grow, and reach past my comfort zone (something I've never been very good at). I'm starting this journal for a few reasons. The first being to record my time abroad, I want to remember as much as possible and how it made me feel at the time. Secondly, to look back and see how my experiences have changed me. and lastly, so that the people I care about can read about what I'm doing, so they'll have a little bit of an understanding of how this journey is shaping who I am and who I become.
So, I suppose, here goes nothing...