Random thoughts

Because my brain is complete mush with all of this travel planning, here are some random thoughts in bullet format:

- It occurred to me that I'm going to go a year without driving a car. Since I was 16 I haven't gone more than, what, a few days without driving? Weird, huh? I anticipate using many modes of transportation - planes, trains, taxis, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, buses, boat, bicycle, maybe an elephant - but probably not a car as I won't have an international driver's license. I wonder if I'll forget how to do it after all that time. . .

- I'm going to miss a lot while I'm away. Christmas with my niece and nephews (and the rest of my family, of course). My best friend's daughter's first birthday. Other events that will pop up in the lives of my friends and family. I know I'm going to experience a lot, too, that will make up for all the things I'm missing at home, but it still makes me a little sad to think about it.

- I'm having second thoughts about the RTW airfare ticket. Even though I got a second quote that was even better than the first (woo!), I'm starting to think that this type of ticket just won't allow me the flexibility that I need. And aside from the first leg, budget airlines might allow me to piece together my own trip even cheaper than the RTW price.

- People LOVE to talk to you once they find out you're about to travel to Barcelona/Thailand/Fiji/fill-in-the-blank. A couple of times over the last few days I've hunkered down in a coffee shop with one of my (many) travel guides and people always interrupt to ask when I'm going. Then they tell me what awesome things they've heard about that particular place (if they've never been before) or that I should check out such and such because it's so cool, or pretty, or interesting (if they have been). It's kind of fun, actually.

- In the midst of all of my RTW travel planning, I'm also planning mini trips to New Jersey and New York to visit friends before I leave. It's bizarre to me that this feels like a "final goodbye" of sorts, even though I know it isn't.

And. . .that's about enough randomness for one day.