Welcome!

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm scared to leave my home country and travel to the Czech Republic for 11 months. And even though I go in only 16 days, I say no. I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm not freaking out is that my brain can't fully wrap around the fact that I won't see my friends or family for that long. 16 days feels like 2 years, and I can't get myself to realize how tangibly close that actually is. I think I'll be terrified, but only when I step into the car to drive to the airport.

Right now I'm focusing on getting anything and everything I'll need for my time in Czechia. I always feel like I have way too much and yet not enough at the same time. I'm nervous that I'll leave something really important out, but I guess I'll solve that if it happens.

The rules of my exchange are long and direct, but I know that they've been tested over the years and refined. I'm encouraged to not spend too much time on my phone, and that means that I can't talk to many people from the US that much. I'm only supposed to talk to my family for one hour a week!!! So, I decided to make a blog as a way to show "proof of life" to all of my friends and family and people that might be interested in my journey. I'll be posting pictures and stories about what I'm going through, and it will be a great way to connect even if I can't always be talking to everyone. Hopefully, I'll be able to be reasonably consistent with posting.

:)