These very lines were shouted out by Bilbo Baggins as he ran through the fields of the Shire. What that led to, is history. But this is not the place for the LoTR fan in me. It’s just that…I am soon going to be shouting out these very words later this year, as I embark on what is my life’s first true adventure.

A solo backpacking trip to Europe….

My life coach told me I needed to get out of the daily cycle, take a step out and delve into the mysteries and wonders that solo travel holds. He told me that I needed to stop poring into travel books and daydreaming about travel. He said it’s time I got into action. My life coach can be really mature when he’s drunk. Nevertheless…what was meant to be a small trip somewhere to clear the head, I landed up with a resolve to head to Europe.

Now my other friend, I don’t even know why I call him a friend, did not like this. “Where’s the money my boy?”, he asked. Well, it’s there. Have I not been saving up for exactly something like this since the last 3 years? All those sacrifices, aren’t those for this?

“Well yeah, true…but the real question is, can you do it boy? Can you make your first solo trip all by yourself, without any help, in a country where you’ve never been, with a budget that you don’t know will be enough or not?” Good question my friend.

But now’s not the time to dwell on “Can I”. I know I can, I have to, and I will. For scared though I am before my adventure, an adventure it still is, and one thing both my life coach and my friend, who are none other than 2 parts of my own mind, will both agree on, is that I love adventures.

So Euro trip it is, backpacking and all. No more waiting, no more dreaming, time for action, fast and swift.

My life has just begun….

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