The Three Ps Part 3
- The Art of Planning-
Something you may want to know about me is my incessant need to plan every minute of every day. Most of this need is due to a very serious condition known as ‘hanger’. Absolutely anyone who knows me well has most likely witnessed an episode of Hangry Sammy. The presentation of hanger presents itself when I am away from food for more than three hours. Side effects range from passive aggressive silence, to arguments over absolutely nothing significant or if somehow I am in a car or someone is walking slowly in front of me causing massive sorts of road rage. Essentially any enjoyable part of my ‘normal’ personality almost disintegrates, and I transform into the ‘Hanger Monster’. If any of you have seen the snickers commercials where other people who struggle with hanger morph into a well known angry celebrity known for their bad attitude, then you understand just what happens to me in a moment of hanger.
Back to planning- the topic of this blog post. When you travel, you find yourself in completely different areas of the world, where you might not have the privilege of memorizing where the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts wake up wrap can be located, which on the east coast, happens to be every street corner. No, you sometimes have to wait hours while you’re roaming through streets or villages where there seems to be no end with no food in sight. This, this is my worst nightmare.
Anyone who has traveled with me before knows that at any point in time, I am stocked with a chocolate snack, Nutella packet or granola bar. My random snacking moments have given people quite a chuckle. Whether I am at the top viewing point at the Arch de Triumph, or on the metro at the end of a long day, you might notice that I disappear for a moment into my knapsack by the time you turn around, I will be nibbling on a small tube of Nutella, a cracker or any small travel sized snack I have carefully stashed. Although odd, this is just me being very observant of my moods and in the end saving you all from the hanger monster. You’re welcome. Not having any idea what snacks are available to me in Thailand, I was most concerned about making room in my luggage for emergency comfort snacks. Yes this was one of my first planning priorities, even before determining the length of my trip if you can believe it. Once I cut down my packing list, I was able to shove a number of snacks into my bag which will prove to be lifesavers.
Next on my priority planning list was if not the most (and more) important, medications. Now if you are a girl, then you most likely will or have already been introduced to the topic of birth control. It is your choice to take birth control, you should never feel forced to take this medication as there are other alternatives. However, for many medical reasons, I have been on it since I was 16. Without getting into details, this is a pill that truly changes your body. It is not something that you can go off of for reasons of convenience when it provides you with medical benefits. Along with birth control everyone who has traveled abroad for longer than 3 months and also needs a long term prescription has probably faced the same giant relentless agitating ugly monster known as Insurance.
Forewarning: there is slight exaggeration in the paragraph ahead.
Most insurance companies need five signatures, a several hour phone call resulting in tears and a picture to prove that you have defeated Mount Everest to even begin to entertain the idea of allowing longer than a 3 month birth control prescription to a woman for whatever humanly incoherent reason they can make up. Even if you get a script signed by your doctor and call six months early to ask 100 million questions about the availability of a long term prescription with confirmation and also climbed Mount Everest like I already did 5 times at this point, you will still find yourself days before your trip fighting with someone about all of the things you haven’t done right to receive the right supply of medications for your travels.
Okay now before you freak out, take a deep breath, after a lengthy six months of failed planning, I researched my country and asked people who have stayed there for a long period of time to ask them about the availability of drugs abroad. Truth be told, you can find the medications you need, and for cheap. So I recommend you do your research and don’t rely on the healthcare system to actually go your way for once, because more often than not, they just love saying no. Good news is, not the entire universe is as horrific! So, you can sigh in relief now. Make sure you do similar research regarding your phone plan and company to unlock your phone and discontinue any bills that you no longer need to pay in your time abroad I.e,. gym, insurance, car insurance, gas, electric, etc. Those companies more often than not prove to be lenient.
Without further adieu, let’s discuss the fun part, planning trips! As I have already mentioned I am a Type A planner. I mean I have a bullet journal tracking my moods, just so I can plan out and or estimate any mood I might encounter within the upcoming 6 hours and prepare properly. This is something I learned helps me be more tolerable for others. One thing I must say is, taking a trip alone can provide lots of options for you because less planning can actually take place. I honestly planned to take a trip where I wouldn’t have to plan every minute. A trip where I “plan” to stumble upon secret beaches and people who will tell me what must be seen or done. I have decided to give up planning this time around, atleast for Thailand. I have a contract stating my 6 month responsibilities as teacher and that’s about it. The amazing thing about my program is that they place me with housing and amongst other open minded English speaking humans who I can only hope are great. Through my brief social media connections with these teachers, I can already tell I’ll like them. They are funny and ready for everything and nothing at the same time. I for the first time in my life am planning not to plan. Am I scared out of my pants? DUH I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t, but I sure am excited for the unknown. I think you challenge yourself most when you let go. And that is precisely what I planned.
The fun and easy part for y’all here below:
What you can plan for:
Letting go can be just as fun as it can be brutal. With the good, comes the bad. (The good is always super worth it)
And that’s all for now folks!
Updates on the first leg of my trip up next! Thank you for reading my wordy posts and somehow deciding to continue doing so.
xx
Samantha Jane
Something you may want to know about me is my incessant need to plan every minute of every day. Most of this need is due to a very serious condition known as ‘hanger’. Absolutely anyone who knows me well has most likely witnessed an episode of Hangry Sammy. The presentation of hanger presents itself when I am away from food for more than three hours. Side effects range from passive aggressive silence, to arguments over absolutely nothing significant or if somehow I am in a car or someone is walking slowly in front of me causing massive sorts of road rage. Essentially any enjoyable part of my ‘normal’ personality almost disintegrates, and I transform into the ‘Hanger Monster’. If any of you have seen the snickers commercials where other people who struggle with hanger morph into a well known angry celebrity known for their bad attitude, then you understand just what happens to me in a moment of hanger.
Back to planning- the topic of this blog post. When you travel, you find yourself in completely different areas of the world, where you might not have the privilege of memorizing where the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts wake up wrap can be located, which on the east coast, happens to be every street corner. No, you sometimes have to wait hours while you’re roaming through streets or villages where there seems to be no end with no food in sight. This, this is my worst nightmare.
Anyone who has traveled with me before knows that at any point in time, I am stocked with a chocolate snack, Nutella packet or granola bar. My random snacking moments have given people quite a chuckle. Whether I am at the top viewing point at the Arch de Triumph, or on the metro at the end of a long day, you might notice that I disappear for a moment into my knapsack by the time you turn around, I will be nibbling on a small tube of Nutella, a cracker or any small travel sized snack I have carefully stashed. Although odd, this is just me being very observant of my moods and in the end saving you all from the hanger monster. You’re welcome. Not having any idea what snacks are available to me in Thailand, I was most concerned about making room in my luggage for emergency comfort snacks. Yes this was one of my first planning priorities, even before determining the length of my trip if you can believe it. Once I cut down my packing list, I was able to shove a number of snacks into my bag which will prove to be lifesavers.
Next on my priority planning list was if not the most (and more) important, medications. Now if you are a girl, then you most likely will or have already been introduced to the topic of birth control. It is your choice to take birth control, you should never feel forced to take this medication as there are other alternatives. However, for many medical reasons, I have been on it since I was 16. Without getting into details, this is a pill that truly changes your body. It is not something that you can go off of for reasons of convenience when it provides you with medical benefits. Along with birth control everyone who has traveled abroad for longer than 3 months and also needs a long term prescription has probably faced the same giant relentless agitating ugly monster known as Insurance.
Forewarning: there is slight exaggeration in the paragraph ahead.
Most insurance companies need five signatures, a several hour phone call resulting in tears and a picture to prove that you have defeated Mount Everest to even begin to entertain the idea of allowing longer than a 3 month birth control prescription to a woman for whatever humanly incoherent reason they can make up. Even if you get a script signed by your doctor and call six months early to ask 100 million questions about the availability of a long term prescription with confirmation and also climbed Mount Everest like I already did 5 times at this point, you will still find yourself days before your trip fighting with someone about all of the things you haven’t done right to receive the right supply of medications for your travels.
Okay now before you freak out, take a deep breath, after a lengthy six months of failed planning, I researched my country and asked people who have stayed there for a long period of time to ask them about the availability of drugs abroad. Truth be told, you can find the medications you need, and for cheap. So I recommend you do your research and don’t rely on the healthcare system to actually go your way for once, because more often than not, they just love saying no. Good news is, not the entire universe is as horrific! So, you can sigh in relief now. Make sure you do similar research regarding your phone plan and company to unlock your phone and discontinue any bills that you no longer need to pay in your time abroad I.e,. gym, insurance, car insurance, gas, electric, etc. Those companies more often than not prove to be lenient.
Without further adieu, let’s discuss the fun part, planning trips! As I have already mentioned I am a Type A planner. I mean I have a bullet journal tracking my moods, just so I can plan out and or estimate any mood I might encounter within the upcoming 6 hours and prepare properly. This is something I learned helps me be more tolerable for others. One thing I must say is, taking a trip alone can provide lots of options for you because less planning can actually take place. I honestly planned to take a trip where I wouldn’t have to plan every minute. A trip where I “plan” to stumble upon secret beaches and people who will tell me what must be seen or done. I have decided to give up planning this time around, atleast for Thailand. I have a contract stating my 6 month responsibilities as teacher and that’s about it. The amazing thing about my program is that they place me with housing and amongst other open minded English speaking humans who I can only hope are great. Through my brief social media connections with these teachers, I can already tell I’ll like them. They are funny and ready for everything and nothing at the same time. I for the first time in my life am planning not to plan. Am I scared out of my pants? DUH I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t, but I sure am excited for the unknown. I think you challenge yourself most when you let go. And that is precisely what I planned.
The fun and easy part for y’all here below:
- Plan not to plan every minute of everyday. Besides the basics like housing and finances, let it be! Find the beauty in nothingness you will not regret it.
What you can plan for:
- Snacks for hanger outbursts (Nutella packets are a quick, fun yet messy snacks). It’ll entertain those around you for sure.
- Electronics, cameras, computers, and locks and for everything. Knowing that you don’t know what’s going to happen can be scary, find security in the little things.
- Research general areas of interest and guesstimate a financial goal for savings, this is important because clearly travel = money. Create a Fundly page for a birthday or graduation instead of receiving sweet but useless gifts.
- Plan for weather change, rain boots, shoes you don’t care about and layers! Always bring light layers they will save your life. And bring the things you don’t care about but are COMFORTABLE. I won’t get into this rant but it should be priority.
- Make tentative plans with people who might be your area, never definite unless you are traveling with this person because anything can change! Those things can be last minute.
- Make all necessary calls before leaving home, or you’ll come back to incessant bills and debt collectors. Pretty much tie up all loose ends!
- Plan an amount of time you can last financially, never overstay your financial welcome leaving yourself without a way home! It’s been done. Believe me.
- Don’t cut the travel time short if you don’t have to! Explore more push yourself and create a list of possible destinations that may fit well in your travel plans for example applying for a yoga certification class after your teaching commitment is over and also making pit stops on the way home in my case Australia to visit family and California to visit a best friend because why not!
- Lastly and most important, plan to get sick. Unfortunately, traveling to destinations like Thailand also come hand in hand with food sickness or the possibility of attracting a unwelcome disease. Do your research, and bring what you can to help. Often medications we find work for us can often be hard to find I.e., Imodium, cold/ sinus medication, motion sickness medication and activated charcoal to ease an unruly stomach.
Letting go can be just as fun as it can be brutal. With the good, comes the bad. (The good is always super worth it)
And that’s all for now folks!
Updates on the first leg of my trip up next! Thank you for reading my wordy posts and somehow deciding to continue doing so.
xx
Samantha Jane
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