Packing in the stress

My dad once told me that if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. And whilst I feel like I have gone through every possible thing to get ready for this backpacking trip, I can’t help but think I have forgotten something. 

I’m the type of person who will resist buying something, then when I finally do, I will make use for years to come until my hoodie is in threads and my shoes become more like slippers. This meant that some purchases were definitely a necessity and I just had to accept that budget backpacking is not for free! Take boots for example, I have had the same ones since DofE nearly 4 years ago and my feet are starting to pay for it a little. This trip has been a push to finally get some new gear because the last thing I want to be, in a foreign country, is unprepared. The dread of forgetting my food on a DofE trip back in year 10 (having left it on the staircase at home) and surviving off flapjacks, is not an experience I intend to repeat! 

The influencers make it look super simple, grab a bag and go… Let me tell you, it’s not. What they don’t seem to mention is the documents, the health and safety information and financial considerations, back up plans,  insurance etc and a never ending list of to do’s to try and get ready. Maybe I’m making it more complicated than it needs to be! 

Of course I have this image in my head about what this trip could be like, but realistically I have no clue. I’m jumping into the unknown here and if I’m being honest, it’s scary; all I can think about is what could potentially go wrong (could being the key word). However, what I fear more is never knowing how good it could be if I don’t do this. For so long we grow with this bubble of routines and daily comforts that protect us. But when that bubble pops it feels vulnerable, which will hopefully involve new perspectives and experiences. 

In a nut shell, I don’t really know what I’m doing, but if I waited to know then I would never go and make this first jump. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow… 

Rosie over and out. 

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