Happy first day of August and happy abroad month! With just 18 days until I leave for Copenhagen, I have a lot of thoughts running through my mind:
1. I still have A LOT to get done and my to do list is not getting any smaller..
2. I just don’t know if what I am packing is right, will I need that 3rd black dress after all??
3. Relax Carly, if you don’t do/have something it won’t be the end of the world and you will figure it out, I hope!
When I begin to overthink and stress about abroad and everything that goes into it, it helps me to think about what a great adventure I am about to embark on, which leads me to think about my greatest adventure thus far, the cabin.
My family’s cabin sits on a small lake in Canada, far removed from any sense of ‘civilization’. There is no electricity, no running water, and to some the most detrimental of all, no wi-fi. Built by my great grandfather, going to the cabin every summer has become a tradition. A time where we shut off our phones just before reaching the border, play lots of 500 Rummy, fish every night, and find a new adventure each and every day. There is no stress over what to pack or concern over what other people are doing, just pure curiosity and fun. And this is exactly what I hope my abroad experience will be.
Each trip, disconnecting from the world became harder and harder to do, as the thought of ‘missing’ something was always a worry. But, each time we would turn down the winding lane to the cabin these superficial thoughts disappeared, as old memories come flooding back, and a new adventure awaits. This memory and state of mind is what I hope to take with me to Copenhagen.
I want to experience this thing called ‘travel’ that every Odyssey article talks about, what every person posts about, and what everyone returns home absolutely loving. I think what I see online presents myself, and I’m sure others, with this false sense of traveling, only capturing the greatest and most prettiest of moments. Which is why I want this blog to be about my time abroad, both good and bad; the perfect tour with the not so perfect flight or the cute coffee shop found because of the freezing weather outside. My goal is to not just share my picture at the most ‘perfect’ travel spots, but also tell you how I got there, how easy booking my flight actually was, and how well I navigated the airport and train stations. I want to experience my travels, every part of them, and I want to share their entirety with all of you in hopes that you learn from the great and not so great decisions I am sure to make while abroad!
Throughout it all I hope to be completely present as I live in Copenhagen; finding comfort, a sense of home, and another source of the hygge I feel when at the cabin.
