I’ll be honest, the subject matter of any conversation I have at the moment pretty much centres around The Big Trip. When people at work find out I’m leaving, or I tell friends that I haven’t seen in a while, they all pretty much ask them same few questions or come out with similar statements.
Only three months?
Um, excuse me, but three months is quite a long time! That’s a third of the gestation period of a human, a quarter of a year, three separate pages on my rather beautiful Benedict Cumberbatch calendar. OK, so when most people ‘go travelling’ they go for a year or so, but the way they do that is by slumming it on 13 hours buses across the middle of nowhere, or they work. This trip for me is a holiday and I contemplated doing longer, but I want to do it in comfort and I do not want to work. So yeah, only three months and I’m totally fine with that.
Who are you going with?
Simple answer: no one. But really, I will be spending about a third of my time alone and the rest visiting or travelling with friends along the way. I’m not doing this to meet loads of new friends, although of course meeting new people will be a great bonus to anything I experience. I’m excited to see the places where my friends live and to spend time with people that I ordinarily only see once a year.
You might meet the man of your dreams!
Just because I’m travelling alone doesn’t mean I’m on a mission to sow my seed with any old backpacker that gets thrown my way. I want to meet new people but I’m not out specifically to meet a new man, thanks.
You may never come back!
Blimey, make your feelings clear why don’t you? People seem to think that the only reason I’d want to travel for so long is because I don’t want to live in the UK. But that’s not true; I love the UK. I don’t mind the cold, I like being so close to the rest of Europe, my family and friends (for the most part) are all here. If I lived abroad I’d still have to work, I’d still be unable to afford to buy a property, I’d still hate going to the gym. So actually I am coming back, but cheers for making a girl feel loved.
How much is that going to cost you?
In short, that’s really no one’s business but mine. However, I will say that I’ve always been brought up with a sensible head where money is concerned. Every month I put money into my savings and although the original plan was for that to go towards a house, this trip is something that I know I have to do or I’ll regret it forever. It’s an investment in my future sanity.
As for the generic ‘where are you going/what are you doing?’ questions, nothing is final. So far I have a few flights and hotels booked but I’m leaving the finer details for a while as I don’t want to over-organise everything (despite my control freak tendencies). All I know is that I’m going, and that’s enough for now.