Prepping for the European Trip–In Which I Stress-Vent

(WARNING: Yes. I’m complaining about my trip to Europe. Yes, I realize that this is really ridiculous. I know it comes off as “Oh gee, the poor guy has to go to Europe for Christmas. Let’s all cry really hard for him. He’s got it so bad.” But you know what? This is my blog. I get to write about what I want to write about. And right now, this is what’s stressing me out. I’m excited for the trip, but still . . . )

Our trip to Europe is approaching. Rapidly. As in, lots faster than I thought it was. Which is all fine and good on one hand. I mean, who doesn’t want a three week vacation? But at the same time, I look at all the things that need to get done in the meantime, and . . . it all starts to get much more stressful.

A lot of this is due to how much different this trip is going to be compared to our other trips. Four countries, a rental car, 8 different cities we’re staying in . . . If I were less prone to overplanning, this might be okay. But I’m not. And it’s not like there’s not a ton of things to plan for. Like, for example, did you know that each country in Europe has its own freeway sticker you have to purchase to be able to drive on the freeways in that country? Neither did I, until I did my research. Drive on the freeway without the sticker, and you get fined if you get caught. Also, Germany and Austria have different laws over what kind of tires you need to have on your car after November. have the wrong tires, and you get fined if you get caught.

I’ve got the hotels booked, the car reserved, the flight tickets ready, but I also need to figure out how we’re getting in and out of some of the cities to sight-see (Drive in? Where do we park? Take public transportation in? How?) There are so many little details to making a trip like this work, and I’ve got this nagging feeling that something’s going to go wrong at some point, and there’s not a thing I can do about it.

Then again, I’ve also learned the best thing on vacations like these is to plan like a madman ahead of time, and then roll with the punches once you get there. No use worrying when it’s too late to worry–just enjoy it. We’ll see how that goes. ๐Ÿ™‚

And in the meantime, I’ve got a house to decorate for Christmas, Christmas presents to find and buy and wrap, my yearly Christmas newsletter to finish, work to finish up before I leave, and a book to start editing. (It’s almost been long enough now that I think I can approach GET CUPID from a fresh enough viewpoint to give it the good second draft it needs.) Each one of those things is complicated for a variety of reasons.

Deep breaths. It’ll all work out fine.

And that’s all the time I have to stress-vent today. Thanks for listening.

2 thoughts on “Prepping for the European Trip–In Which I Stress-Vent”

  1. “Then again, I’ve also learned the best thing on vacations like these is to plan like a madman ahead of time, and then roll with the punches once you get there.”

    Oh, this is excellent advice. I will try to remember it next time I travel.

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