Time is ticking! Pressure is ON. Trip preparations.

People say the hardest part about traveling is getting yourself out the door and boy are they right! Hours of skimming through travel blogs and watching videos is making my head spin.

Which backpack should I buy?
Which health insurance should I get?
Is there a better way to fly there?
How long should I stay?
How much money would I need for that location?

And now with just about an month under my belt I barely have anything planned except my departing flight! I've purchased guide books, I've bookmarked a dozen travel blogs, but I am definitely feeling overwhelmed! There is so much to do, so many places to go, and SO many opinions on which routes are the best to take. I feel just a bit like a deer caught in the headlights.

However when stressful situations like this happen to me I just gotta keep reminding myself that I need to take small steps. One foot in front of another. Step, step, step. 

A few days ago I decided I know! I'll go get a backpack first. So on my day off I went to REI, went into the backpack section and just randomly started grabbing backpacks to try on. Turns out, a 60L backpack, which is  what many people going on this type of trip get, is WAAAY too big for me. Not only because I'm super short, but I just don't see myself needing THAT much stuff. Of course it helps that my shirts are half the size of an average person, but I think I'm a pretty minimal person compared to most travelers. Yes I'd like to brag that I'm a pretty low maintenance person, but partially it's because I'm lazy. I hate carrying heavy things, and I hate carrying useless things, so for this trip I'm thinking maybe a 40L backpack or 35L if I dare.

Now the next step is to wait for my new shiny credit card to purchase all these things with. NO I'm not going into debt for this trip! It's just that this card comes highly recommended for travelers since it doesn't charge international exchange fees, and let's you build points in exchange for miles. ;) 

From here on then it will be more planning.

Oh, and if anyone is on the same boat as me, here are some sites that I've found tremendously helpful so far (and I will keep adding):

Nomadic Matt
Legal Nomads
Her Packing List 
Wandering Earl 

I really appreciate these guys sharing their experiences by the way, and I really enjoy reading all of them. They're all super helpful for anyone that is looking to travel, and their stories are just inspirational!

Hoorah! Hopefully I'll have more planned the next time I write.