It's officially that time, 24 hours until Natalie and I take off on our big European adventure. I couldn't be more excited, though admittedly it has been a ridiculous week. It's funny how even with the most meticulous and thought out planning, life always has a way of throwing you curve balls.....
Work has been somewhat crazy trying to finish a number of projects and get everything squared away before d-day (departure day), but it all seemed fairly manageable until on Sunday when my roommate received news that she was being promoted and relocated to SF at the end of the month for work, meaning in the next week before leaving the country for a month that I would also need to relocate. I decided the best route for relocation was clearly to take my wanderlust a step farther and become an official traveling homeless vagabond. I found the cheapest storage unit I could find, obviously on Martin Luther King Jr. and Fruitridge, and proceeded to move all of my belongings in there.
Hurdle 2: On Saturday, after moving 90% of my life into the storage unit and being informed by the staff that they patrol the area at night so they will catch anyone who tries to sleep in the unit (clearly my transformation into a true vagabond was in full force as even the storage unit folk could sense it), I decided it was time for a little time on the town with my schmeagolly friends before I left the country. We opted for something wholesome to counteract our usual debauchery and headed to root on our local soccer team, Sac Republic.
After (one beer? I forgot how many people I shared this link with at work) I decided to indulge in a hot dog. My attempts to drop some major pounds before Europe and pridefully wear/strut around in shorts had fallen flat so I figured at this point, the hot dog would make no difference. As I went to add ketchup to my delicious stadium staple, the Universe decided to punish me for my gluttony and my phone hit the concrete...shattering. I typically drop by phone 2-3 times a day which is why I opted to have my phone look like a space ship and purchase the otterbox. Apparently, even otterboxes can only take so much abuse. I'm still trying to decide whether to fix the shattered screen before Europe. It's pretty horribly shattered, but spending $60 to fix the screen and $40 for another otterbox just makes me sad. I guess it'll have to be a game time decision tomorrow.
On Sunday I woke up on the living room couch (because my bed was in storage and the mean storage people said I couldn't sleep in there). I remembered that my phone was broken and felt instantly regretful. In an attempt to be productive, I decided to move some more things into the storage unit and start packing for my trip.
I've long been aware that I have very little skill in estimating size/measurements. I believe my lack of spacial relations has resulted in nearly all of my car accidents (with the exception of the first one which was really just stupidity) The picture above is all the items I intended to go in my backpack. Of course, when I began packing, I realized the no-vacuum vacuum bags could help, but they weren't the miracle mary poppins giant zip-locks I'd hoped for. I ended up discarding about half the items shown here and ended up with this...which admittedly, though it zipped, was still ludicrous because even standing long enough to take this photo was a struggle. Regardless, I convinced myself that overnight I would somehow become hulk and the 50 lb. backpack would be fine because I'd sooner keel over then not have that Maxi dress with me.
With my backpack filled to the weight of having a 14-year old strapped on top of me, I decided it was time to finish up the storage unit. I was jamming out to some old-school Cher inside the box and got so lost in "Do you believe in Love" while stacking boxes that I forgot about my "finger issue" and snagged my nail on a piece of fabric which resulted in me screaming, my fingernail popping halfway off my finger, blood gushing everywhere, and me having perhaps the biggest storage unit solo pity party ever (that is until I remembered that I was alone, there was blood, and pity parties aren't any fun by yourself so I grabbed some scotch tape and taped the nail back on.
When I got home, I called the doctor and to my surprise they actually wanted me to come in. My mother, who I love dearly, has convinced me that I'm a wimp when it comes to injury so I'm always surprised when someone shows genuine concern for me over a physical injury. Of course my Mother is also the kind of stud who would probably try to treat herself for a gunshot wound if she could so..fair enough.
So I head over the doctors today. Turns out my finger is somehow infected. The Doctor's not super keen on giving me antibiotics before leaving the country but decides to go ahead and do it rather than risk the infection.
"Don't worry" says the Doctor. "I mean, they may cause extreme diarrhea or a rash. But nothing you can't handle. Just take them 4x a day for 10 days. Oh and wear a band-aid at all times"
Perfect.
"Oh yea" says the Doctor, "It'll take 8-9 months for your nail to grow back and it will also most likely grow back deformed, so just be prepared for that"
Even better.
On the upside, at least during the hour it took me to receive the antibiotics that will potentially cause horrifically embarrassing side effects, I was able to snag some of the band-aid equivalent to plastic bra straps.
So now I'm sitting here 24 hours before my big trip - homeless, awaiting the growth of a talon where my fingernail used to be, looking at a shattered phone... and all I can do is shrug and smile.
So my belongings are in storage, so my finger looks like it belongs to that creepy character Kaley played in our 6th grade rendition of The Tempest, and so what if my phone may or may not be somewhat "urbanized" and taped together with scotch tape, so what if I managed to somehow gain 2 lbs over the course of attempting to lose 10, and so what if I was only able to save about 2/3 the amount I had wanted to.... I'm about to go on the most memorable trip of my life to date and if you'd asked me if something like this was possible for me two years ago, I would've said no.
I feel truly blessed in this moment. I am blessed that I was able to take the time off from work. I'm blessed that I have a friend who is just as poor as I am and willing to go on this adventure with me. I'm blessed that it's a finger injury and not a foot one. I'm blessed that my Mother saw my backpack and aggressively convinced me to get rid of 1/3 of the things inside so I could walk with it on my back without looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame. I'm blessed that I have such a great support system that I know if I was taken, somebody would go Liam Neesen on their ass.
and I mean who knows, maybe European men like homeless chicks with bird claws.
Point is, regardless of this week's comedy, I cannot wait for the adventure ahead. I'll post again soon! Ciao for now!
Packing List for Europe-The Final Cut
-Extra copies of passport
-Eurail Passes
-Travel Emergency Kit
-Shattered iphone
-Iphone Charger
-Backpack
-Camera
-Book
-Eye mask
-Blow up neck pillow
-Headphones
-Medicine
-Small black Kate Spade Crossbody Purse
-Neck Money Belt
-Water resistant clip on wallet for beach
-Wristlet Wallet
-Scarf (1)
-2 Sports Bras
-2 Sports Shorts (for sleeping & walking)
-2 ribbed tanks
-1 spaghetti strap shirt
-1 soft t-shirt
- 1 long sleeve shirt
-1 sweater
-1 sweater wrap
-1 pair jeans
-1 pair lulu lemon stretch pants
-1 pair tennis shoes
-1 pair shower flip flops
-1 pair gladiator shoes
-1 pair wedge heels for going out
-Dresses (2)
-Maxi Dress (1)
-Stretch black mini-skirt
-Orange Skort
-Cute Tanks/Going out tops (4)
-Sunglasses
-Necklaces (2)
-Toiletries
-1 battery-operated toothbrush
-Yoga Towel (for showers/beach)
-Rain Jacket
-Zip Up long sleeve jacket
-Jean Shorts (1)
-Bathing Suit (1 bottom, 2 tops)
-Swim Bag (The bag Tara got me in Cambodia)
-1 robe
-2 normal Bras (1 strapless, 1 convertible)
-10 underwear
-5 pairs socks
-1 small journal
-Hairbrush
-Mace
-Bachelorette Emergency Kit that Lexi got me
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