The time is here

The time has come where I leave the United States for 4 months.  I have already left Jacksonville and arrived in Dallas.  I got here around 1pm and my flight takes off at 4:45....so an hour and 45 minutes left to wait, alcohol and food time!!  I am waiting on three of the other students to get here as well.

Yesterday I had to say my final goodbyes to most of my loved ones.  Even though it was the worst weather in Jacksonville it turned out to be a good day.  I started it out with CHIK FIL A and then I spent the day with one of my best friends trying to find some green pants (which I had been looking for for over 2 months lol).  I FINALLY GOT SOME!  Woop Woop.  I'll need those for St. Paddy's day in Ireland!!! Super excited for that.

I was also to FaceTime with my mom who is over in Israel right now.  That probably made my day because I miss her so much and she's only been gone since the 18th.  How am I going to do 4 months? Then my sister and her gf came over and we got to talk for awhile.  Then I ended the day eating Sushi with some of my favorite people and skyped with my sister Mackenzie!  Which was a great end to a very long day!

My dad drove me to the airport this morning.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I don't think it has really hit me yet!  I'm going to miss him so much!!! (daddy's little girl)


The other students got here, so I am going to stuff my face!!!! :)

DAY BEFORE!

It is almost time!!! It is the day before I leave, less than 24 hours to go.  I am still finalizing my packing, which is very stressful. lol 

I had to buy a new suitcase because the one I had at my mom's house was not deep enough for all my stuff.  Space bags have saved my life, it is much easier to pack with them!  Also, to keep some of the weight down, I've put a lot of my heavy things (pills, adapter, converter) on my carry-on bag.  I am bringing 4 months worth of clothes and products in 1 check bag and 1 carry-on bag.  I cannot believe I did it.

Right now I am hoping I do not forget anything I really need from the United States.  I am so OCD when it comes to rechecking my baggage.  I also needed to clean my room and make it look presentable so I do not have to do that when I come back to the USA.  I have really been procrastinating and I hope it doesn't bite me in the butt.

Wish me luck, ya'll.

1 week and counting

Today marks 1 week until I leave for Europe with 3 of the other students.  I am trying my hardest to see all the people I can prior to leaving.  I also need to finish packing! I am proud of myself for the limited amount of clothes I am willing to take.  My sister did help me with that as well, she's much more practical than I am.

I will be going to Gainesville this week to say good-bye to my best friend, which will be hard.  It was really hard already saying bye to my best friend Carly!  My mother left for Israel yesterday for 10 days, so yesterday was my goodbye to her, and it was much harder than I thought it would be.

So far myself and 3 other students have trips to 4 different countries planned.  I believe I already talked about Ireland, but we are now going to Geneva, Switzerland; Amsterdam and Milan, Italy.  We have from March 23-April 3 off from school, so we took full advantage of that!

Will keep posting prior to leaving!  I keep getting more anxious the closer and closer it gets to leaving.

My first blog post ever!

Hello to anyone that is reading my blog!  My name is Amanda Nichols, I'm 23 years old and I am a student at University of Central Florida.  This is my first blog ever and I started it because I will be studying abroad in Innsbruck, Austria for 4 months starting at the end of February.

I have been saving to travel throughout Europe since I was about 17 years old.  I have always loved traveling, thanks to my mother!!  When I started school at UCF I saw they had wonderful study abroad programs and I decided to apply.  In about April 2012 I found out that I got accepted and then the entire process started.  I did not realize how ridiculous the process would be, until all of it piled up on me.

I figured UCF would help out with getting housing, setting up classes, and basically help with everything...unfortunately I had to do all of it on my own (the other students going helped out a good amount too).  I also noticed I had to figure out how to get my own travel insurance for Europe on my own as well, because my parents had no clue about anything either.

I started out buying my plane ticket, which was the biggest purchase I have EVER made!! I almost had a panic attack!  Then shortly after that I figured out how to get insurance and then 3 other students and I applied for out housing.  When we applied I almost had another panic attack because I had to wire almost 1000 american dollars over to a bank I have never heard of.  After about a month of waiting, I finally got confirmation that they received my money!! Thank the heavenly Lord!  Then came applying for a Visa, which you have to have a ton of documents to get!! Basically, everything else had to be done before I could apply for a Visa.  I had to have my housing confirmation, insurance, my plane ticket, 2 passport photos and proof that I actually had money!  I triple checked that I had everything and I get an email back stating I had to actually mail my PASSPORT to D.C.  NOT OK WITH ME!  But it all worked out and I have my VISA!

Now that I have everything I need here in the U.S.A, I just need to pack and get on my way to Austria. It seems easy enough, right?!  Well it is not so easy!  Packing is going to be a pain in the butt, my shoes are the biggest problem.  I know I will need to reduce the amount of clothes I am thinking about bringing.  I do not need to bring my entire closet!  The shoe problem though is something I cannot get passed.  It will be freezing over there for 2 months and then it gets warmer.  So, I will be needing my winter boots and then warmer shoes as well!  It is so hard to choose. (sounds ridiculous I know)  I am bringing 1 big suitcase, 1 carry-on suitcase and 1 duffle bag for weekend trips!

I am incredibly happy I have this opportunity and I cannot wait to get over there.  However, it is going to be hard to say good-bye to my family and friends for 4 whole months!  I've been away from people for about a month at a time, maybe 2 months.  This will be a big test of how I can handle being away from the people I love.

4 of us students already have a trip to Ireland planned for St. Paddy's day!! I'm super excited about that!!  I'm also trying to figure out where else to go while I'm over in Europe! That has been the fun part! :)

Thank you to anyone that has actually read my first post.  Stay tuned for more posts prior to my depature and while I'm in Europe.