Still in the states

All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go.

...for the most part.

I'm looking out of the big window behind my parent's computer in Rochester, NY and I see winter. There are no leaves on the trees and there is a light dusting of snow on the ground. I am cold. I checked the weather for Florence yesterday: 70 degrees farenheit and sunny. I'm really going there in one week from today. I'm really going to Europe.

I need to lighten my pack. I think that I will take a pair of worn-out (beautiful) flip-flops, my chacos, and a pair of sneakers or boots. I still have to make that big decision between sneakers and boots - sneakers or boots, sneakers or boots, sneakers or boots? I think I'm going to go to the store with Dad in a minute and, if I can find a stupendous pair of sneakers, I just might choose sneakers. Although I realize that I'll be working on farms, I can't imagine a pair of hiking boots being as comfortable as sneakers for as long as I'll need them. Oh gosh - decisions, decisions.

I only need two pairs of pants, right? One pair of jeans and one pair of lighter, cargo pants should do me just find. A part of me wants to bring one more pair of jeans but, c'mon, I know I'm only going to be wearing one of them anyways. The other pair would just take up space in the bottom of my pack.

My pack is heavy enough with my guitar strapped to it. Oh wow, I really decided to bring my guitar - this is big! Maybe if I run out of money, I'll sit on the streets and rake in the dough...I wonder if italians will like my music even if they don't understand the words. I wonder also, if I'll have the balls to sit out on the streets in a foreign country and play music.

Just who am I going to be on this trip? Who will I be when I return? I know, I know, I know that I'll be me. I know that I'll be me, but what new and exciting things are going to be in my head and on my skin and coursing through my breath?

Yes, this is pretty exciting.