My mother bought me a wedding ring at a crafts fair in Bigfork, MT. She bought it on the advice of my aunt who said I should wear one for the purpose of diverting unwanted attention. Good point, I thought, but I nervously laughed all the same. My aunt also gave me the advice of always traveling at night with a friend and in general “using my city smarts”. Um excuse me? I don’t have any of those. This is a girl who grew up walking a half-mile through the woods to her best friend’s house, not just down the block. A girl who has an outhouse and carries bear spray, not mace. When I went to NYC with a friend she scorned me for jaywalking (I was just doing what THEY did) and putting money back in my bag while walking down the street (I could have gotten mugged).
The moral of this story is: I’m going
<————————from THIS
to THIS ———————-> 
I’m excited, don’t get me wrong, this will be life changing, unbelievable, fun, adventurous, different, insane, etc. but I have a list of what I am apprehensive of too.
LIST OF SCARY THINGS
#1) 13 degrees North of the Equator. I hate the heat.
#2) I don’t want to get sick. Or get worms, or some other bug. Everyone has a story of getting sick and I want to be the miracle girl who doesn’t.
#3) I’m not the biggest fan of fish and apparently thats a huge part of every meal.
Surprisingly being part of the ‘Big City Life’ is not what scares me, that is only what scares the people who worry about me. But if that is all I can come up with there are SO many more things that I do look forward to that this trip will be fantastic.
Signing off,
Gaelyn