This picture may bring various feelings of discontent – It might remind you of your first day at school, of the first day back to school, next year’s back-to-school day, and the thought of never escaping having to go to more school. Trying to fit your new $200 dollar textbooks into a teeny-tiny backpack is never fun, and often may make you feel like a hunchback. But that’s fine!
What’s not fine is trying to fit everything you need to live off of for the next two weeks into one backpack. And that is essentially what I decided to do after buying plane tickets to go backpacking in Hungary.
My days are filled with all-consuming thoughts of what I need to bring: What am I going to miss? Do I really need my mascara? How do I fit this mascara in beside my hiking boots? Why does society convince me that I need this mascara anyways? I’m sure I’ll look fine without it. But maybe I can just not bring one of my two pairs of socks, because that would mean I could bring my mascara. And, most importantly (not related to my mascara): What can I actually live without?
This whole trip was an irrational response to me thinking that I’ve done nothing interesting in my life so far. I am almost never spontaneous, and I kind of want to be. So, I booked plane tickets only three weeks in advance, and have been freaking out ever since.
I mean, of course I’m excited! I’m going on an adventure! But it’s the first time I’m going travelling on my own, and in a totally new and strange country that I’ve only seen through the lovely filters of Instagram and Pinterest. It’s rather terrifying, and trying to figure out how in the world I’m supposed to function on my own in the totally unusual experience is freaking me out, and the stressing about packing is just one part of it.
But it’s okay to stress about new experiences, and to be afraid of the unknown. It’s okay to want to have more in your life than what you already have – dreaming about travelling, and dreaming about doing something that you have never done, and aren’t really sure about doing. It is important to have dreams, and to want to actually do them, because they will give you goals in life. I was, and still am to some extent, afraid of leaving everything I have behind for this new experience, but I am still so glad I will be having the experience.
So, take risks! Go out there, conquer the world, and continue to dream. I will learn to pack, find what I can’t live without, and I’ll have a great experience, with or without my mascara (but probably with, I’m not leaving that behind).