Wings...check!

It's surprising to me that it's taken me this long to finally create one of these for myself, journaller and teller of (inevitably long) stories, that I am...

About a month ago I found myself at the library, daydreaming about all of the places I wanted to go in Europe and acquiring quite a large stack of travel books (that I of course was going to read every word of before I headed off on my adventure)...Drifting away from the usual Lonely Planets, Rough Guides, and so on, I began looking through some first-hand travel memoirs. In one such volume, I found a quote that read something like this: 

"A traveller without a plan is like a bird without wings"

It must have spoken to some part of me that was already feeling anxious for having not planned nearly enough for this upcoming adventure, because I immediately felt a pit in my stomach of "You're not prepared enough!  You're going to miss out on things!  You're going to wander aimlessly!  You've already failed this trip!"  Etc! Etc!

I allowed these thoughts space for a brief moment, before tossing this book aside, and devising a new image for myself:

"A traveller without a plan is like a bird without a plan"

Better.  Sure, birds probably have plans when they're seeking out food/shelter and so on.  That's cool - I can do those things.  But I'd at least like to naively imagine that a bird who is soaring over some new and beautiful vista doesn't necessarily have a plan for where she is heading to next.

Plan: (the absolute bare minimum), check. 
Wings: check, indeed.  

I'm off - to cultivate spontaneity, adventure, courage, and to learn where these wings will take me when I, for once in my life, actually don't have a plan.