Deciding to do My First Solo Trip

Can I admit something to you? I didn't plan to come to Europe until 3 weeks before I left. For the last year I had planned to finish my bachelor's degree at Florida State University, pack up my bags, and move to Seattle. I was discussing when to put my two weeks notice in at BookIt.com with my mother, and telling her I was still toying with the idea of doing a mini trip between jobs. I expected her to say, "No, that would be irresponsible, since you don't have another job lined up in Seattle." So you can imagine my shock when she said, "Do it, take a month and go see the world."

We wrote Ulya (our once exchange student who lives in Switzerland) to see if it would be alright for me to stay with her intermittently on my trip. She responded, "Yes, of course" and the next day I bought a plane ticket and put in a three week's notice at work.

Queue the excitement, worry, and stress...

Three weeks is not much time to plan a full scale Euro Trip. I didn't know where I wanted to go, how I was going to get there, or where I would stay. I also had no one to go with me, which is the primary source of stress for me. Most places in Europe are pretty safe, even alone, but I've seen one too many movies about being "Taken" to be truly comfortable.

To be quite honest with you though... I was just so excited that most of the logistics did not cross my mind. A MONTH IN EUROPE?! Yes, please!