Do it Anyway
Will the hotel rooms have hair dryers? What about irons and ironing boards? What outfits look good on me, are appropriate for our activities, travel well, AND fit into a carryon suitcase? How many band-aids should I bring? Does my husband have all my trip info and a grip on our kids’ schedules? Will the plane crash and burn? These questions are a peek at just some of the thoughts that have rudely inserted themselves into my brain over the last two weeks preparing for this trip. And if you experience intense flying anxiety like me, maybe they made an appearance in your brain too. The unfortunate passenger assigned to sit next to me will witness rocking back and forth, rosaries being prayed repeatedly, medicinal intervention--it’s completely irrational, I know. However, I made the decision long ago to refuse to let the almost crippling, albeit temporary, anxiety stop me from experiencing the world. This trip is the trip of a lifetime for anyone, so do what you must to make it happen.
This full-time working mother of two and self-professed anglophile studying accounting is relishing the opportunity to nerd out on all things finance in Europe. I’ll be trading the high desert terrain and dry climate of the American West for two weeks of the hustle and bustle of the biggest European markets, and I cannot wait!
The beautiful high desert of Northern Nevada and my husband who feels decidedly opposite as I do about flying.
Since I’m writing this from an airport lounge enroute to Frankfurt, I don’t have a lot of wisdom to impart about the activities we’ll get to experience yet. But what I can tell you is I’m excited to see everything, especially the Money Museum, the trading floor, and Lloyds of London. One thing that is not on our itinerary, but I vow to visit during our scheduled free time is the Science Museum in London, specifically the “Phillips Machine”. A mechanical machine that uses levers, valves, and water to show a visual representation of the effects changes in an economy cause.
Bottom line is if you’re on the fence about studying abroad for whatever reason (i.e. irrational intrusive thoughts about flying), you owe it to yourself to do it anyway.
I made it!
