one small step for man...

...one giant leap for ktb.

tomorrow i'm going to get up. finish packing. run about a million errands. and then i'm going to board a plane 100% by myself and travel to the other side of the country. this might be the bravest thing i've ever done.

i'm not very good at being by myself. true, i enjoy my space sometimes, i enjoy my solitude. there are days i don't feel like being social. but overall, i hate feeling left out. i hate knowing my friends are having fun without me. and i get lonely. this trip to prague is a huge exercise in independance for me.

i think i've gotten better at being independant since graduating, moving back to the chicago suburbs, and starting grad school. i have a feeling by next monday i'll be just fine, living in up in prague with all sorts of fabulous writers. but right now, i'm as sad about leaving as i am excited about going. i'm upset, i'm anxious, i'm in denial, i'm ecstatic, i'm confused...

in the grand scheme of things, it's only a month. and two things are for certain: it will fly by, and it will change my life. mostly i can't wait to see how the experience of prague shapes me. shapes my writing, shapes my outlook, shapes my attitude, shapes my life. throughout the trip, i only hope i will remember one piece of advice given to karen and i two years ago as we traveled to vienna (but i think it applies here too)...

"you have years to write about [prague] but only moments to live there" -matt nickel

here's hoping i can truly LIVE every moment...