Changes

Today, at 2:11am, I am the most excited I have ever been about my trip.

I'm making some huge changes for better or for worse, but I like them. I'm cutting down. I'll be spending only 3 months in Europe and probably one month in South America.

Reasons for this decision are varied, but it really comes down to two things: weddings and cost. I will not miss my best friend's wedding for the world, so I'm leaving in July and coming back in October to play best man! And travelling the other continents is expensive. The real cost comes from getting place to place. It's outrageously costly because not every place has railways and awesome transportation systems like Europe.

However, since I'm cutting back, I'll have a lot more money to spend on some things. Cody and I were sitting at the Classic Bean tonight when it occurred to me that there is no reason for me to pay off all of my student loans. I'm just going to prepay payments through January, and keep the rest of the money for my travels. It will save me about $2500, which will be used for the coolest thing ever: a Eurail Pass. With the extra money, I can afford to buy a 3 month pass which will get me at will train tickets to nearly every country and city I want to visit. AND a ferry from the UK to Amsterdam, which is exactly what I wanted to do. HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT!? I just got insanely lucky.

I'll be travelling super fast, which is great because I'll be able to see more. I'll also get road worn more quickly, so I'll be prepared to come back by October. At that point, I'll take a couple months to work, then head to South America for a month. Followed by re-enrollment at my beloved K-State in January. My time spent abroad will be much shorter than anticipated, but I've got my whole live to travel.

Plus, when I get back I can do some of the other things I've wanted to do. The first month of summer 2011, I'm going to take a month long US road trip. I think I'll be able to do it cheaper than I'll be able to travel around Europe. When I arrive in Manhattan in January, I'm going to set about opening a Hookah shop in town. It will be my first attempt at entrepreneurship. I may fail miserably, but personally I think there's a real fat chance of that. A college town is the perfect place to start a business like that and I think it would be a blast.

Anyways, I'm too exhausted to really be blogging, I just can't sleep because I'm simply giddy about all these things. Even though I'm going to be traveling a lot less time than I'd hoped, my life is great.

P.S. I've put together a list of the things (not all inclusive, and with a few extra things) that I'll be taking on my trip with me. It's not a lot, but it IS all that I need to survive. I'm really pumped about the actions I'm taking to be able to live simply. I hope that, when I return to the states, I will be able to continue the lifestyle.