Let's get ready to go!

You figure after time I would amend my behavior. With travel having become such a huge part of my life, it would seem like I could put together a great pre-travel ritual that would allow me optimal time to get ready, prepare and be on the road without hassle. You would also think that by this time I would have a great system set in place for accessing passports, boarding passes and other essentials. Though I would like to say I’m a good traveler, preparation and pre-departure efficiency are not my thing.

Preparation starts the night before the flight. While I have a great idea in my head of what I’m taking and how my pack will look, it doesn't resemble at all the reality that occurs in the room I’m packing in. The room, before I pack, must be in utter chaos. Clothes are on the floor, passports are buried, laptops are open and social media is on the screen.

While I know that the hours before I need to be heading to the airport are finite, I can’t seem to pull myself to get my work done. Much like a stressed out university student, I find anything I can do to procrastinate packing my bags and cleaning up the room I have subsequently destroyed. This typically results in many late night trips to anywhere that is open 24 hours.

Finally, with bags packed, as the flight is near, I find myself getting crabby. I’ll find that my energy is low, my anxiety is high and my ability to actually finish tasks is at an all-time low. I start to become real down, and though I would never admit, there is an easy answer as to why. The fact is, as many times as I get ready to board a plane and go explore the vast world, I still get scared, nervous and sad to say goodbye to the friends and family I’m so reliant on.

While the process is a mess, this is how I travel. It is my routine, and though it sometimes results in many pairs of shorts and not many pairs of underwear, it gets me to where I need to be. Enjoy your travel (and pre-travel routine!) and realize no matter how much you do it, there is always something new to explore, experience and engage in.

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