One month! We are one month away from departure! Now would be the time to put your party pants on and get excited, folks. It. is. happening.

My 2.5 month European vacation is happening!

Itineraries have been finalized and some additions to the trip have been made- among my favorite is some skiing in the Swiss Alps at Zermatt. Also, just this week I met a native from Scotland and got some really good intel about Ireland and the UK.

Despite a mishap with one of my departing flights and having to reschedule that, things are falling into place nicely. I have no idea where the past two months have gone, but I know that this next one will go twice as fast.

The other day, someone asked about my plans for the summer and when I said "I'm backpacking through Europe" I immediately felt like such an impostor. Who says that? Who actually says "I'm backpacking through Europe" and then goes and does it? ME! THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE DOES IT. This, however, does not lessen the fact that I feel like an impostor when it comes out of my mouth. Maybe it will feel more natural the more I say it? Probably not. Oh well. Hair flip. #life

In my passport case I have a slip of paper with the name of every city in the world I have ever traveled to and I take it out every so often to remind me that my life is so much bigger than my every day interactions. In the last few months since I haven't been traveling very much, I have taken it out more often than I typically would. Yesterday I had the realization that in one month I will be able to put a new city on that list and then spend every day for the next 2.5 months adding new cities to that list. If that isn't a dream come true, then I have no idea what is.

In the remaining month I will continue to have mental debates with myself over what clothes will make the cut. I mean, how can you realistically pack for the French Riviera, the Swiss Alps and Ireland all in one trip? They just don't belong in the same trip, but they are absolutely in the same trip and we are going to make this work- myself and my pack that is. Maybe I will pack some of those pants that zip off at the knees to become shorts. I think that's a good look for me.

My assumption is that my next post will be either the evening before I depart or during my 5 hour layover in Charlotte on May 16. If I had to put money on it, I would say during the layover is more likely.

Until then, stay beautiful my loyal readers.