Auf Wiedersehen!

It's hard to believe that in a little less than 22 hours, I'll be on a plane en route to Germany. There are definitely some butterflies, and some worries, but all in all I mostly feel excited for what's ahead.

Packing and getting myself prepared has definitely been a complicated process. One of the most important things to get when you travel to any country are plug adapters (and voltage adapters if necessary) so you can use your electronics at your destination. It was really easy to find adapters that work in Germany, but for some reason Italian plug adapters exist only in a mythical land far from my home, and I haven't been able to find one. Hopefully I'll be able to find some in Germany, or my week stay in Italy will be very tech-less. Under the advise of my travel agent, I've also thrown a back-up outfit in my carry-on in case my baggage arrives a day late, which is apparently not too uncommon. The final big thing I did was to make photocopies of my passport, credit cards, and other important papers. In the event that anything gets lost or stolen, I'll have back-up copies at the ready.

Apart from that good advise, I've mostly been trying to pack light. I was certain that I was going to pack way too much and have to take half of my stuff out and start over, but I have enough room for all of my clothes, toiletries, and school supplies, plus room for an empty duffel bag in case I come home with more than I left with.

To add to all the stress of packing and leaving, my laptop decided to completely crash early this week and make me think that I was going to have to find all new ways to call home and get assignments done. Fortunately, a friend of mine was able to help me out and get it running, so I should be alright in the laptop department.

One thing I've done really well at is getting airplane entertainment together. I got a plane charger for my laptop so I can play some games or whatnot, my girlfriend bought me a movie to watch, I have some guidebooks that I will probably read far less than I should, and I bought an interesting book on programming so I can hopefully turn some idle plane time into productive time, but we'll see.

It'll be weird and hard to leave everything behind and head out to Germany, but I'm excited, and right now can only think and hope that it's going to be great. I'll be sure to put up another post once I get settled in Germany to let you all know how things are working out.

~Cody