Internship or Eurotrip? One and the same

Adventuring rule #5: Go here.

     Calendars are kicking my ass this month. I think someone is trimming off days while my back is turned. Unfortunately, I can't prove anything.

     What I do know for certain is that yesterday was January, with the whole semester stretched out in front of me for miles, and today is mid March, with nearly half the semester behind me. I'm not sure how it happened, but it means I have about three months to put together a six week trip to Austria.

     Turns out that planning an international excursion is an adventure in itself. I'm making my lodging arrangements with my mother's step-brother, who runs an international law school called the Center for International Legal Studies out of offices in Salzburg. I'll be working with him and his adult son and daughter to create an article on the freedom of information in Europe, update book introductions, creating ads for a program coming up in November, and proofreading anything that comes up.

     This all sounds amazing, but I have to get there first.
     A plane ticket costs $1600. Updating my passport was $125. A rail pass for the 45 days I'll be in Europe costs at least $300. Only I don't need it for every day, I need it for the weekends. Still, hundreds of dollars.

     How do I choose which countries I want to see and which I don't? Do I simply predict what adventures I want and fill in the blank? What if I arrive and decide I want to see Italy instead of Germany? What if I don't know if that's possible because my understanding of European geography is limited?

     Ideally I would have one day in which I can research all of this and know exactly what I'm getting into. I don't know if I like situations that require me to just show up and see what happens.

     Are my priorities the work and the internship, or are my priorities just the experience? Should I devote time to solving these questions now, while I'm so busy with my college responsibilities, or should I simply do my best to keep up with what I can and spend time with the people I love here and now?

     What college has taught me, and what has become clearer while planning this trip, is the idea that I only get to do anything once. Yes, I can watch a movie twice, or revisit a favorite city, but it's a different experience. I want so desperately to get it right the first time. If I mess it up, or do it wrong, that's it. That scares me. Planning helps, but there's no solid safeguard.

     I think that's the point, though. To spent a lot of time and energy and resources arranging an experience then jump into it and hope it all pans out into something worth doing.

     So instead of sitting around watching calendar pages flying out the window, I will continue making lists, checking them off, and ignoring them when something more interesting comes up. Everything works out in the end. Things that are worth doing happen because I choose them. I need to be open to that choice.