Two Days until Take-Off

Yes, the countdown has resumed and I now have only two days until I leave from Logan Airport and arrive at London Heathrow Airport the following morning. I can't say that I have necessarily had the reality of the situation hit me. I am excited -- in theory -- but those pre-departure butterflies and anxiety do not seem to have really settled with me yet. In the past whenever my departure date was quickly approaching, I would definitely get a bit more tense, a lot more nervous and the excitement was palpable. Out of all of those feelings, I am only really feeling nervous and I think that's partially because I don't consider myself particularly adept at navigating via public transportation and partially because of the fact that I'm leaving Friday night and it hasn't even hit me yet . Sure, I felt a twinge of recognition of the fact that I was going to London when I received my Visa, but my reaction to that was mostly, "Wow, my Visa looks really cool" rather than "I will be spending all summer in another country."


For now, I am occupying myself with packing and compiling last-minute details to insure that take-off to landing goes smoothly. I have just now started to pack and am going through what I have dubbed the "audition process" for my suitcase. I have done a preliminary choosing of what particular things I think will get me through the rest of the summer, and then I'm planning on taking a break before having a second look at my choices. After the second look, I'll be going through all of the items and modifying my selections -- some things will may the cut, others may not, hence my labeling this as the "audition process." I am basically holding auditions for what will be accompanying me to London. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but hopefully by the end of this process I'll be feeling confident about leaving and embarking on this both physical and cultural journey as well as being able to visualize the reality of the rest of my summer.

My empty suitcase A.K.A the challenge. For anyone who is even remotely familiar with me and my dressing habits, fitting eight weeks worth of clothes, shoes, accessories, toiletries, etc. into this small contraption is definitely going to be a challenge.

After round 1 of packing, you might think that this seems like a lot, but I think that this is just a sign of the amount of restraint I used when choosing items. Of course, I will definitely need to have a second-look at everything, because if  I am going to commit to all of this for eight weeks, I need to make sure that I'm going to wear and use everything I bring.

One Week

It was about six or seven months ago when I began to start thinking about my plans for the summer. Last summer I was foolishly unprepared and spent about three weeks wallowing around my house and two weeks temping before finally finding a job for the remaining month and a half of my summer. Although I do believe that with any work experience, you have the opportunity to learn something about yourself both personally and professionally, I knew that this summer would be the time to try to find a job or internship that would serve as the first step to launching myself towards a career.

I did a lot of Google-ing, resume tweaking and even a bit of soul-searching as I tried to find my best summer option. I was definitely leaning towards a study-abroad experience, especially considering that I have a strong desire to travel to all parts of the world, but I didn't need any more credits -- I just needed to work! I finally discovered Intrax Internships Abroad, a company that places students in international internships. After a bit of chatting with my parents, I applied, got accepted to the program, and as would be the expected cliche, the rest is history!

So now we fast forward to today. It is exactly one week until I leave for my international internship. I am going to London, located in England, and will be working with a company called Cedar Communications Ltd., which specializes in magazine publishing, web design and advertising. I'll be there for eight weeks, working, learning and exploring a new city and new sights.

As of today, I just received my visa, and although it would seem as if it has finally hit me -- it really hasn't. Part of me wonders if I won't actually feel as though I'm leaving until I'm already on the plane. For now, I am just trying to begin to compile a list of everything that I need to do, pack and know before I am on my way.

Be sure to check back in with my blog to see how my packing process is going, but also throughout the entirety of my trip!