Free to leave the country as I please.

I received my passport in the mail today. It was a sigh of relief because although I was not worried about getting it I did need it to travel in a month so its nice knowing that I’m all set in that regard.   It’s nice to know that I have the freedom to be able to go somewhere, anywhere now in the world with just the drop of a hat. OK well I mean I know some places require things like visa and sorts oh and usually some sort of money.. But yeah you know what I mean right? If that money thing magically appears and traveling becomes a real possibility I’m so stoked to be able to have it already in my hand.

So I think it is important to mention that this is the first passport I have had in my adult life. I had one when I was a kid and my kid passport got a ton of use. I had stamps form all sorts of places like Mexico, New Zealand, and Japan just to name a few.  I have no clue what happened to that childhood passport. I’m fairly sure that I lost It., because as a teenager I wasn’t the most responsible person ever.  I wish that I hadn’t cause It would be nice to go back and look at the stamps now from all the cool places I have been.  The reason for the passport now is because I am taking vacation for the first time in my adult life and going to spend 11 days in Guatemala visiting family. I am so super excited about this trip, not just because it’s seriously the first time I have had the chance to take vacation in forever. But also because it’s the first time leaving the country, no I shouldn’t say that I have been to both Mexico and Canada, ok the first time going outside of North America as adult.  I’m excited also because I was lucky enough to have my trip given to me as a very nice gift from both my aunt and my mom. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t get to have this opportunity because of  the fact that I just don’t have that kind of extra money to spend on trips and my work doesn’t allow me a lot of last minute travel  so I could keep costs down lower.

 Now that the whole passport thing has arrived I can get it into my head that this trip is really going to happen and start to plan some things to do.  I have to start boning up on cool places to visit in Guatemala so I can get the very most out of the whole experience.  I can’t wait to go. I can’t wait to get to see another side of the world and culture that are unlike my own. I am so excited to travel as an adult and have a maturity and acceptance you don’t get when you’re a kid.  I am so thankful that I have people who were able to give me this amazing opportunity and for that I am so very very thankful.  Tonight I am going to try to get in touch with some people down that way. Maybe see about maybe doing a day or two at an animal rescue center. Try to see some ancient ruins of cultures that no longer exist. Begin to gather a lot of reading material for the plane ride, even though I’m sure I’ll sleep the whole way because flying makes me sleepy. I’ve got to start figuring out what kind of clothes I’ll need to pack for the climate down there.  Oh and figure out what to do with all the pets when I’m gone for that long. Basically I need to start planning. Like I said  before, because I still didn’t have this passport I wasn’t willing to plan for the trip in case some sort of travel jinxing might happen and I would get denied it.  But now I have to throw myself into it because my departure day is just about a month away. Exciting!