Be Happy Anyway

Be Happy Anyway
From Brave Girls Club

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Time is Drawing Near

Passport - Check
Travel Guides - Check
Language CDs - Check
Plane Reservations - Check
Hotel Reservations - Check, Check
Tranportation Arrangements - Check, Check, AND Check
Great Travel Companion - SUPER CHECK!

Things left to do:
  1. Finish working summer school
  2. Buy travel clothes
  3. Buy comfy shoes
  4. Look up Trondheim activities
  5. Clean house
I have been chatting with Miruspeg via email. Planning, deciding, collaborating.
Do you want to go by bus? Is this hotel okay? What do you think about staying this long here and there? Doesn't the train sound like fun? Oooh! Check this out!
If you were inside my head, you would have to be a ninja to avoid the flying thoughts.

Thank goodness for the internet. In the past, a person would have to rely on a travel agency, word of mouth and travel guides from the book store in order to plan a great trip. Where would we be without Google Maps, Expedia, Google Search and Google Translator?

This vacation started out almost three years ago as a wish, a dream, just whimsy. Then things started coming together bit by bit. I already knew someone in Norway. Then I began to connect with more people through Scrapblog and Blogger. Everyday that passed brought this crazy idea closer to reality.

Now our departure is two months away, and I am so excited. My stomach is turning. Just imagine the excitement you feel standing in a line waiting for your turn on a roller coaster. You step into the queue without a second thought. The closer you get to the gate, the louder the ride becomes. As you approach the final turn in your wait for this attraction, the structure looms high above you. You know it is going to be fun. Everyone has told you how great it is, yet you still worry. What if something goes wrong? What if I throw up, lose my favorite sunglasses, get stuck at the top of the ride? Regardless of this apprehension, you reach the point of no return, the moment when you are strapped in and the safety bar comes down over you and locks into place. You are committed to this. The ride jerks to a start, climbs clickity-clack up the all important first hill, comes to a pause at the very top and....ZOOM! You're off on the ride of your life, not knowing which way the rails will turn, twisting, flipping, holding your breath, laughing all the way until the ride returns to where you began - injury free, sunglasses clutched tightly in your fingers. You survived unscathed. You look at your partner and say...

LET'S DO IT AGAIN.

This is my hope for our trip this summer. When it's all said and done, I want to be counting the days until I can do it again.

10 comments:

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

OMYGOSH!!! two months all ready!! WOW!!!!! Sounds like it is going to be amazing! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Unknown said...

hi!
I had a wonderful trip to Bergen and if you are thinking of going to the west coast of Norway I strongly recommend it!! It was sunny and so beautiful :)
Good luck with the planning, its always exiting going on adventures...
Hugs
Hilde

Shan in Japan said...

I am so excited for you! I can't wait to read all about it and see pictures! I loved Norway. It was my first overseas trip eons ago. I wish I could remember everything about it. I don't have my pictures with me here in Japan to jog my memory. But, when I see your pics and hear your stories, I am sure I will remember!

Next trip, Japan!:) Might as well get some use out of that passport!

miruspeg said...

Hey Thelma!
Love your new header photo. Is it Skudeneshavn?
You are such a hoot mate, loved your ninja comment.
We ARE going to have a wonderful roller coaster ride when we travel around Norway....and the first of many I hope.
You do realise the planning is as much fun as the adventure itself. And then the reliving is just as much fun.

Hugs from your travel buddy.
Louise xxxxx

letti said...

lol... if you see brad pitt along the way, tell him letti said hi. :) Sounds like you guys will have a whale of a time. How very exciting!

miruspeg said...

Hello again
Even though I can't hear your music I wanted to tell you I love the Abba and Simon & Garfunkel
songs. :-)
And I am enjoying the music I can hear from the Jukebox!

MJ said...

Hurrah for the new header!! I'm counting down with you now! I live vicariously through others, especially when international travel is involved!! I'm quite excited!!

Jacquerose said...

You are so lucky! That looks like a beautiful country to visit. I haven't been to Europe since 1998! I used to go every year when my daughter lived in the Netherlands and then in London. This summer she and her husband and kids are going to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Lucky ducks.....!

Thinkie said...

We also plan and book all our trips bit by bit online, that way we get exactly what we want, for the budget we have, and I always have a planning of what to do somewhere to limit the chance of feeling like we have missed out on something and have to go back some day. With our amount of travelling, we spend hundreds of hours a year, but it's our passion and it enables us to get maximum fun for minimal money so we can travel even more ;-)
Booking a readymade trip at the travelagency is sooo last century ;-) and sometimes more expensive too if you want something else than the masses.
I'm e-mailing you about Trondheim!
There's only one things about travelling as much as we do, Maarten and I were talking about it just last night: it's addictive and as soon as we get home our itch to travel starts again! Just like that rollercoaster ride! Although we're getting less and less worried ride after ride since we know from experience that we are prepared for almost everything.

McMGrad89 said...

Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I am really looking forward to this (as if you couldn't tell.)

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