A lesson in stressin'

One problem I have is that, from a philosophical point of view, I am a pretty chillaxed sort of person. I espouse all sorts of maxims like "worrying never got anyone anywhere" and "I don't regret the things I've done but those I did not do" (usually with reference to going out dancing instead of completing an assignment or job application) and "you can't take it with you when you go" and that sort of thing. In college I was prone to starting essays at midnight the day they were due, and once I left college I didn't bother until they were over due (you only lost 2% a day in the Arts department and frankly I had better things to do.)

This isn't a problem in itself, but thanks to my wonderful mother I have also inherited the Worry Gene. So when I fail to do things in a timely manner, which I inevitably do, I stress. I lie awake at night, I grind my teeth, I jiggle my legs rapidly (or my entire body if it's really bad), I walk around with a mantra of "oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck fuck fuck" blaring in my head.

So as you might expect, this whole "travel planning" thing is not so much my bag. Oh, I'm perfectly happy daydreaming itineraries and comparing trail shoes online, but when it comes to going to a bank to open a new account only to find I don't have adequate ID and then searching for ancient documents that I put in a "safe place" years ago and taking more time off work to go to the bank again and blah blah blah... god, it is just so boring, and then I procrastinate, and then I PANIC.

Couple this panic with the three calls a day I've been getting from my mum and it turns into TRIPLE PANIC. Or QUADRUPLE PANIC or similar, I'm not entirely sure about the numbers.

Anyway, despite the terrible panic that has been keeping me awake at night, I'm finally starting to feel as if everything is falling into place.

I still need to:
-Finalise my fucking debit card ARGH
-Buy a completely rockin' warm jacket and two pairs of horrible travel pants and trail shoes (I'm really starting to dread this, but at least I have a Mountain Designs voucher to remove some of the burden, plus it's SALES TIME)
-Take a photo into STA travel for my ISIC card
-Change some money (oh god this process terrifies me I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND)

But I don't need to:
-Stress about travel insurance
-Stress about my tickets
-Stress about my passport
-Stress about an emergency credit card
-Stress about a backpack (well, almost definitely. Hmm.)
-Stress about my birth certificate (I couldn't find it on Wednesday, ordered a new copy on Thursday, and found the old one this morning, in the "safe place" where I was certain I had left it yet couldn't find it on Wednesday).

Also I've organised a shindig to get rid of as much shit from my unit as humanly possible. And Mark said he would take my books. And Magda said she could possibly store some stuff if needed too. And I'm growing increasingly ruthless with the things I'm throwing out.

I am probably going to make it to South America you guys!

For some reason I find this fact incredibly surprising and still slightly unbelievable? I feel as if I deserve a medal for making it this far.