Day 1

Yesterday was my last day at work. I really make a point not to mention work, but I will say that it was a really nice last day. I went out to lunch with my work colleagues and they surprised me with a great going away present "The Travel Book" by Lonely Planet. It is an 800+ page epic summarizing every country on the planet. Look out world! Here I come!

I had read stories from other bloggers that have taken career breaks to travel about how it went breaking the news to managers and colleagues and I was expecting a fair amount of negativity and "I'm disappointed in you" comments. To my surprise, everyone was really encouraging and many said they were jealous. Maybe that's the difference of working in Europe. Here it doesn't seem like a sign of insanity to consciously jump off the corporate ladder. Or maybe it is a sign of the environment inside of a company going through a very ugly and drawn out acquisition. Nothing seems to surprise my shell-shocked colleagues and I anymore. Regardless, I am grateful for their encouragement. Thanks guys! And do keep in-touch.

So what do I do to mark the end of my job? I put all of my suits in storage. My husband and I also went out with friends and stayed out late on a weekday, but odd as it seems putting the suits away was far more symbolically significant to me. In the end, I tended to treat them like a uniform and often wondered if I could qualify for "What Not to Wear" for my completely uninspired work attire. It was just another sign that my body was filling my seat at work, but my mind and motivation was elsewhere. That's enough about work...

I am getting towards the end of my packing list. Today I bought my fake wedding band and paper soap. Yep, you heard me. Several travel sites recommended that women, even singles, sport a wedding band as a "no vacancy" sign to aggressive men, but my friend took it one step further when she couldn't recommend enough that I not take anything of financial or highly sentimental value with me...including my wedding band. The same friend suggested soap paper. I am going to give it a trial run at home first because it just sounds too good to be true that something that takes up so little luggage space can clean my clothing. I hope so, though. That would free up some much needed space and weight.

I also finalised my travel insurance and spent the better part of the day organizing my stacks of important documents from the past four years into binders. I know it sounds weird, but it just feels better to see it all neatly lined up on a shelf and in some semblance of an order before I hit the road. And if my husband should need to get to some of the information while I am traveling, hopefully this will make it easier.

I have really been going through a rollercoaster of emotions these past few weeks. The idea of traveling alone for the first month or so of my trip at times seems daunting and downright stupid. I'm not really scared about my personal safety although I have given it quite a lot of thought and research (rest assured, Mom & Dad), it's the loneliness I fear I will feel when I am experiencing all of these fantastic new places and things either alone or with complete strangers. I have so much to look forward to and be grateful for, though, that I feel silly for even mentioning it. Everything has come together so smoothly so far (knock on wood).

A friend last night reminded me to just take it all in and enjoy myself because the memories will be all mine and will always be something I can look back on. I took it to mean that I will always be able to look back on this trip as a kind of gift to myself and something I can be proud of. He also told me to buy local t-shirts and ship them home because I will like having them around to wear when I am back at home. Great idea! I think I will incorporate that into my blog.

Tomorrow I pack my new backpack to use on my week long trip to the U.S. to visit my family.