Italy prep

My mom picked these up at the library... I've only looked at one of them yet.  There's too much to learn!

I'm pretty sure that everyone at home assumes that I've dropped out of college. When they see me at the grocery store, working at the Youth Center, or running other errands, they say, "So... what're you doing these days? Are you going back to school?" Then I quickly explain that yes, I'm going back - well, I'm not going back to Gordon this Spring - but I'm going to Italy. Then usually then respond with "Oh, are you doing anything there?" (probably wondering why I'm not in school but I'm going on a vacation in Italy for four months) I then continue to hurriedly explain that I'm taking classes there... I just have a suuuuuper long break. 

So even though I still have a month until I leave on February 22nd, I feel like I'm going to leave any day now because it's all I ever think about and the only thing people ask me about! Also, three of my roommates from the fall are already abroad right now (Kelly in Scotland, Kayla in Uganda, and Becca in New Zealand), so I feel like it should be almost my time to go now... but I still have weeks before I'll really start to pack all the little things.  

And this is embarrassing... but ever since my grandparents bought me a suitcase set for Christmas, I've been putting clothes in and out of it, trying to plan out how much I can possibly take with me. Whenever I go shopping (which has been a few times over break because I love shopping), I am torn between buying clothes that will be good to bring with me, or saving my money to buy clothes once I'm there. Seriously... it's a constant battle every time I go into the store. Usually I "compromise" by saving my money and then going back the next day to buy it. So really I'm just saving my money for 24 hours.  But that's still saving it... Sort of.

Some of the stuff that I have so far...

Pretty much this pile changes every day because I'm always wearing these clothes, they're in the laundry, etc. 

Anyways... now I've revealed that I'm a weirdo who packs for a trip 1-2 months before the actual trip. I think the main reason why I'm so concerned with packing is because it's one of the only concrete things I can do to prepare. I don't know what Italy will be like - the people, the food, the classes, being away from home/family/friends - but I do know how to pack! So I'm pretty sure I'm just channelling my nervousness into packing because it's something that I can do right now. And it's a nice challenge - trying to fit the maximum amount of outfits in the best possible way, along with toiletries and books and other important stuff. I love it. So I'm sure I'll pack and repack my suitcases a few more times before it's actually time to do it for real... but oh well. I have a ton of free time now since I dropped out of college, right?