one month to go

I'm now in the final countdown until my big trip to Europe. I've bought my plane tickets, my travel insurance, and made all my hotel reservations (a major gaffe, I later learned, but this is my first trip outside the country).

I'm a little tentative, a little nervous, and a lot excited. I've wanted to travel for as long as I can remember, but couldn't--or wouldn't--for one reason or another. Now that my dream is becoming a reality, I'm practically vibrating with anticipation.

My itinerary, which is long and crowded, looks like this:

9/5-9/8--Oslo, Norway
9/8-9/11--Bergen, Norway
9/11-9/13--Stockholm, Sweden
9/13-9/26--Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Irkutsk)

9/26-9/30--Munich, Germany

9/30-10/2--Amsterdam, Netherlands

10/2-10/4--Brussels, Belgium

10/4-10/7--Geneva, Switzerland

10/7-10/11--Vienna, Austria

10/11-10/26--Italy (Padua, Venice, Florence, Rome, Vatican City, Naples)

10/26-11/3--Greece (Athens, Paros, Crete, Delphi)

11/3-11/15-Paris, France

11/15-11/23--Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, daytrips to Cordoba and Seville)

11/23-11/26--Edinburgh, Scotland

11/26-11/28--Belfast, North Ireland

11/28-11/29--Dublin, Ireland

11/29-11/30--Cardiff, Wales

11/30-12/12--London, England (and surrounding towns)

Wow...if just typing it out makes me tired, I wonder how traveling it is going to feel! Nonetheless, I'll find a way to make it work. The thing I have to remember is that this is the trip of a lifetime, and I should treat it as such.