(4/2/14)
Yes, I managed to get distracted yet again. Truth is, I’m
kind of overwhelmed by the many things I have to do, find out, get, learn,… but
thinking of it all objectively, this is what I want. This is what I need. Last
year was just a blur. My 25 year mark was just a blur. I don’t want any more
years to be.
Thankfully, I have that friend who keeps checking up on me.
Asking if I’d bought my Railpass, credit cards, travel insurance, yada yada
yada..I sheepishly answered “no” to all three. I’m not so used to having
friends, so at first it felt kind of awkward..I felt guilty towards her for not
having completed all those simplest of things. But wait a minute, this trip is mine. She’s just being a good friend and
lending me a helping hand. Or several (you’ll find out as you read on).
Not to say that I haven’t gotten anything at all, I have
signed up for a credit card. Just that the card isn’t approved yet. And I
thought I would buy the Railpass using the cc cuz my debit cards won’t go
through for some reason.
So this friend, asks that we meet up; and I know it’s what I
need to get that motivation going. Most of the time we just spent talking about
the various people we had encountered. It didn’t matter. Just knowing that
someone was encouraging me to do this meant the world. Everyone else is telling
me how dangerous it is, that I should wait until I have someone to go with,
that I was wasting away my future by spending (most of) my savings on such a pointless
trip.
First of all (and I think I’ve mentioned this before), I
have no one I could even ask to go on this trip with me. They either
(i)
Can’t afford to
(ii)
Aren’t interested in backpacking
(iii)
Don’t have the time or
(iv)
Wouldn’t be able to tolerate me for such an
extended period of time.
I can do this now. There will always be reasons not to go.
But right now, I have much reason to go.
I think I’ve already put that in in one of my earlier posts, so I’ll spare
(more) repetition here.
Here’s a list of items I’ve prepared for the trip:
(i)
Small bottles for my toner and moisturizer (bottles
have been washed and filled)
(ii)
Toothpaste and toothbrush case
(iii)
Toiletries bag (one of those that could be hung
on the taps in case there’s nowhere to put it down).
(iv)
Money belt
(v)
Bottle holder (those stringy things you put your
bottle in so that you could sling it on your shoulder).
(vi)
Slippers
(vii)
Photocopies of passport and other documents I
could think of to get photocopied.
(viii)
Universal adapter
(ix)
Padlocks for my bags
(x)
Socks (non-white, as strongly advised by my dear
friend)
(xi)
Accordion booklet for stuffing in tickets and
stuff that I haven’t pasted into my journal.
(xii)
Headgear (erm, this requires quite a bit of
explaining, which I won’t do right now)
My friend (bless her soul) dug up an old backpack pf hers
and said I could just borrow it instead of buying my own. Phewwwww… that’ll
shave off quite a bit from my expenses.
Tomorrow I’ll ask my insurance provider if I could get
travel insurance from that same agency.
Later this month there will be a PC Fair. I should get:
(i)
Multiple USB charger head
(ii)
Power bank (I know I said I’d get it before, but
I got distracted ok?)
(iii)
Err…digital camera? (Can I afford one? Between
bringing my tablet and buying a new digicam, which one makes more sense?)
A fleece coat. I could only find those bubble-ish type
jackets. They seem quite warm, but would I look totally out of place wearing
that in April? I honestly cannot imagine at all what the weather would be like
in Europe in April. I’m mostly scared of freezing to death at night.
I find that a lot of my toils and troubles stem from the
fact that I’m trying very hard to keep it a secret from everybody (or as many
bodies as I can think of). My reasons for this are:
(i)
The group of people who cannot differentiate
between backpacking and going on holiday. They start fantasizing about the
various souvenirs I’m obliged to buy them (for reasons only they know) and tend
to get offended when (yes, when) I come back empty handed.
(ii)
The negative ones that will immediately dampen
my already faltering courage to go on this trip. Yes, I know it is dangerous.
But it’s not as if my life as it already is holds no degree of danger.
(iii)
The ones that will suddenly decide it is in
their capacity to scrutinize my plans. Why aren’t you going here? Why don’t you
do that? Do you know bla bla bla… as if I’m not already overwhelmed making my
own plans.
(iv)
The cynical ones that make me feel bad about
going. “Oh, well, you’re lucky that you have the money to go” “If I had that
kind of money, …” “Good for you that you’re throwing away….” The answer is, no,
I do not have that much money. I am going broke, and when I return I’ll be
broker still. But I’m going anyway because I know I’ll find a way. I’ll work
hard to rebuild the shattered savings, and from there I’ll be stronger, wiser,
and hopefully a much better person.
My friend taught me that people will be people, and there’s
no sense in shutting them out just because you aren’t strong enough to face
their reactions. True, in a way. I understand what she means. But putting it
into practice is an entirely different matter.
Of Money Belts
So I’ve bought my money belt, and I must say, that in itself
is one challenge. I’ve been out an about looking from those fancy travel stores
that sell the original Deuter money belts, to the cheap knock offs, and one
thing I have to say:
Curses to my short torso!!
For one, I thought I’d buy a waterproof one in case (and I’m
guessing I probably might have to) I need to bring it into the toilet/shower
with me. Plus, if it’s so close to my body, chances are the inside of the bg might
get sweaty as well, right?
Given that I’m not very sturdily built, I had to find one of
those flat belts, otherwise it would look like I had four boobs. Finding those
flat ones was fairly easy. Finding one that was sturdy was also fairly easy.
HOWEVER!! There is not much choice when it comes to the width of the belt. Most
of them are designed to hold your passport. Now, how do I explain this….
My torso is less than the width of the average money belt.
Or at least, it’s the same width. The one I bought is barely digging into my
hipbone when I sit down, and it scrunches up my boobs so it looks like I’m
wearing a god-awful corset. It feels like it!
In case you were wondering; no, I am not a midget. I just
have a very disproportionate torso. It’s short, ok?
Of Headgear
I’ve always had a love for decorating myself. Yes, you read
that right. Whether it’s my face or how I dress, I like to feel decorated.
Perhaps that’s the shallow part of my personality, but so be it.
Anyhow, there are some styles that I’ve been dying to try,
but if I did it here in my home country (given the limited venues I frequent,
it just would look tacky and out of place. So I’ve decided to try it out in the
far distant land of Europe. In my mind, I might still look out of place, but at
least people would just attribute it to being a “foreigner”.
Who knows? Maybe I might like it enough to bring it back
home, or get random people to react to it, at the very least.
