Countdown until departure: 4 days

There's a list of things you have to consider when you're traveling.  There's a longer list of things you have to consider when you're traveling for 3 months to a continent you've never been to.  There's also a list of things you have to buy for your long trip.  Without my temporary job, I don't think this trip would've been possible...financially.  I was this close to applying for a job at Trader Joe's as some art manager/store decorator to pay for this trip. And boy am I glad I didn't.  Let me explain.  I have nothing against Trader Joe's, in fact I love Trader Joe's.  I was unemployed for a whole year before that, living out in eastern Long Island (a new and foreign territory for me), and desperate for a job.  Any job.  And I thought bagging groceries at Trader Joe's for $8/hour was going to be enough to sponsor my trip.  Well, it maybe if you plan to work for a whole year to save up.  I only had 5 months to work.  The point is, if you plan to stay in hostels and not friends, if you plan to take the train across Europe, it's going to cost you more than a little of your hard earned cash.


Aside from the words, "PACK!!! PACK!!! PACK!!!" written at the top of my list of things to get done, other things included were:

• photocopy passport/driver's license
• Apply for a Youth Travel Card
• Put my Verizon account on hold for the 3 months I'm gone
• Let my credit card/debit card companies know I was going to be spending abroad

Then there were some non-travel related things on the list.  Things I wanted to get done before I left so that when I got back, I wouldn't have to deal with it.  Like finally burning a copy of Sex and the City, converted into an ipod friendly format for a friend who's been waiting for over a year.  That kind of thing.  Because those train rides during our trip is going to add up to more than a couple of hours, and what better way to pass the time by watching the whole series on your ipod?