Apparently, traveling makes you live longer. I am hoping to extend my life a little by backpacking around Europe for a solid 27 days, before unleashing myself into the big bad corporate circus. The 55cm x 40cm x 20cm bag is almost packed. Any piece of luggage bigger or additional to that costs an average of 25 Euros more. My average internal flight cost is 20 Euros. God bless Ryanair.

The sister has already warned me about how everything I take to Europe has a good chance of getting stolen. So, I am keeping it simple. No laptop and no shades, but I am wrapping my left wrist with a semi-decent watch. 7 tees/shirts, a pair of jeans, a couple of shorts, some flip-flops and a pair of shoes and I am all packed for my exciting yet intense journey ahead. Laundry should be a regular expense. It better be.

The urge to do this trip has been two fold. Firstly, traveling is a mind-enchantingly eye-opening experience. And secondly, I cannot claim to be a traveler without experiencing the historic beginnings of mankind that have manifested themselves in the form of this continent known to most of us as Europe. Porto, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Florence, Rome, Prague and Paris should keep me historically satisfied for a while.

Yes, I am traveling by myself and I have no qualms about it. I will be running into at least one familiar person in each of these cities, which is refreshing because that will allow for company in just the right dosage. Most of me is bloody excited but a part of me is moderately petrified. Am I doing too many cities in too little a time? This seems way too intense. Nothing teaches me more than jumping out of my comfort zone. Let’s see how uncomfortable this gets.

P.S. Traveling is a great excuse to blog. It generates quality content. But, it’s time I start hunting for time.