Stage One- Excitement
I’ve just booked flights for the trip of a lifetime, somewhere I’ve wanted to visit, dreamed of traveling and exploring for as long as I can remember. Finally I’ve plucked up the courage to take the first step, confirming the date of departure. What is there not to be excited about? Turing the page to a brand new chapter, welcoming a positive lifestyle and having an incredible adventure to look forward to. I talked about it constantly, but strangely it felt like I was talking about someone else’s venture, ‘this couldn’t be real life?’
Stage Two- Organisation
Organising visas, working more shifts for extra Dollaaa, continuously researching my destinations on Google, searching for advice from other travellers and composing my own ‘to-do’ list. Trying to get the balance right between saving for the trip & squeezing in as many memories with friends and family as possible before jetting-off. Suddenly my calendar right up to July was booked up with not a day to spare.
Stage Three- The Single Digit Countdown
9 days to go, at this stage it still felt very surreal. I woke-up just two days before leaving with severe anxiety, knots in my stomach feeling sick with nerves, the fear of the unknown really got to me. The thought of saying goodbye to the most incredible set of friends & family killed me. The realization had hit me like a tonne of bricks and boy was it was a hard feeling to shift. I was doing everything in my power to stay positive not only for myself but for the people around me. The positivity book was out in action and the feel good tunes were pumping, as my boyfriend continuously chanted ‘PMA, PMA’ in my ear! (Positive Mental Attitude).
Stage Four- Packing Up Life
‘Will I take this, should I take that, but will I wear it?’ Prioritising an entire wardrobe into a 32kg limit? Difficult! With the help of friends I created a Yes, No, Maybe pile and whittled down the items of clothing to a more manageable number. I closed my suitcase an hour before leaving for the airport. I couldn’t bring myself to do it any earlier as each stage became more real to me and emotionally I wasn’t ready to ‘seal the deal’.
Stage Five- The Goodbyes
The part where it literally feels like your heart has been ripped from your chest and stomped on. The hardest part about leaving by a long shot. This stage seemed to be missing from all my Google searches; no one prepares you for the heartache of leaving behind your everything. Positively looking at it though, how lucky am I to be surrounded by such incredible people to make saying Goodbye so hard? I know each and every one of them will be standing with open arms on my return, and for that I count myself blessed.
Stage Six- Checked In Sipping G&T’S
The airport drop. Waving goodbye the whole way through the security line my emotions were all over the place. After entering through the other side the positivity started to flow back in and the excitement levels rose. The atmosphere and buzz in the air had me feeling like a child at Christmas. New realisations occurred. Thinking of the endless possibilities on the horizon. Sitting in the airport lounge with a G&T toasting to our year ahead, the excitement was pretty hard to contain.
Stage Seven- Destination One
I landed in my first destination (Dubai) and a feeling of ‘WTF?’ set in, the disbelief that I’ve actually done it, packed my life in a suitcase and am about to take on an adventure of a lifetime. But yet, somehow it feels like Dubai has been an incredible holiday and I will be returning to the Emerald Isle come Friday not moving on to another destination. I’ve learned to turn the fear of the unknown into positive excited energy and I am ready to grasp life and embrace the year ahead!
Just a note to say thank you to everyone for the support so far, the response has been amazing!
I will have my Dubai blog post up on Sunday with detailed recommendations and advice on holidaying here.
Chat soon my lovelies,
GemKen x