Here we go...

So I've finally taken the plunge and decided to do some travelling. I've been putting it off for a long time due to a lack of funds, and being a scaredy cat after realising I'd be going alone. Since July 2012 I was halfway there after graduating, opting to take a gap year to go somewhere. But it took me all the way to Feb/March 2013 to actually book something. For months I had adults saying things like 'A young girl, going alone?', 'How will you afford it?', 'Are you sure you want to do this?', 'It's dangerous, you know', 'There are bad people out there, there was a story about two girls being kidnapped whilst travelling' ...and so it goes on. I'm still getting some of that now, but it's more of eyes widening and 'Ooh you'll have a great time', and 'I wish I could do that' and 'You're so lucky!' more than anything else. I am lucky, I know I am. But the truth is that anybody can do it. Especially the people saying it to me. Those who buy expensive cars or magazines every week or holiday's to Greece and Spain every year. If you really wanted to go, you could.

Anyway, I decided I really did want to go and that I'd sorely regret it if I didn't. So I came up with a solution to my scaredy cat (and also to my dad's constant worrying about it), and decided that meeting up with a travel group would be my best option. So I went into STA Travel and spoke to Laura, a girl around my age who has done some travelling herself, and was really really easy to talk to, even over the phone. I'm a person who can feel quite awkward around some people, so I was relieved to find that Laura was so easy to talk to when I had so many questions. After weeks months of thought, I decided I wanted to go to the west coast of North America and then explore some of Canada, too. So I figured I'd find a tour in California area and then travel up by train or plane to Seattle area to start my Canada tour. So that's exactly what I'm doing. I think it's perfect for me. I get the comfort of having people with me, and then 10 days in between of independence to travel up to Seattle, making stops along the way.

I thought I'd create this blog after seeing Answering Oliver's blog. I go in June, and I'm hoping that I can take some form of wi-fi enabled tech so that I could potentially fill in this blog every now and again telling you where I am and how good of a time I'm having. In the meantime I'll be filling this blog with anything from  trying to search for what to pack, items to buy, and of course my excitement and nerves.

So let's see how it goes :-)