Chapter 1 - The Start of a New Adventure

A note to the reader:

It has been a while since the last time I traveled, internationally at least. Almost 3 years since my lost blog, in fact. This time is a little different, however; last time I was traveling for school and staying a while, this time I am going for vacation. This once in a lifetime vacation entails 2 weeks, 3 countries, and my mother...
That's right, my copilot and coauthor of this blog is the one and only woman that raised me, and trust me when I say that it couldn't have been an easy task.
Anyway, that is a story for a different blog. This blog is going to be in the 'he said, she said' format with a little twist. Most 'he said, she said' blogs are written in the perspective of a couple. We are now transitioning that into a mother/son experience.  
My perspective comes from a young (well youngish) travel enthusiast, and as a consultant for a travel company. Her perspective... well I better let her tell you what her perspective is, I wouldn't want to get in any trouble!

So this is the beginning of a new adventure.

Preparing for a trip of this magnitude was no easy task. Luckily, I work for a travel company. And within that travel company, I work with someone who has been planning these types of trips for people for 30 years, DJ. Without DJ helping me on this, I would not have the same vacation planned. As for the vacation we put together, well it's a little bit of planes, trains, and automobiles. We'll even throw a boat in the mix just so we hit all the major modes of transportation. A brief overview of the vacation, you ask? Well we will be flying into Dublin for 4 nights, then ferrying over to Wales for 3 nights, then training over to London for 5 nights. (I'm not sure if 'ferrying' or 'training' is grammatically correct, but I like everything to be tantamount, and it just fits with 'flying'.) We have some private tours set up, some walking tours, and even a Broadway show in London. All of our adventures will be recorded and kept up in this blog on a nightly basis (well hopefully on a nightly basis, that was more of my mother's idea, and I'll do my best).

I've spent so much time researching and planning this trip that it's been the only thing on my mind for a while now. I talk about it non-stop at work (sorry to everyone who is sick of hearing about my trip, but thanks for reading about it on here), I think about it non-stop at home, and I dream about it every night. You'd think with it on my mind 24/7 that I was ready for it by the time it got here. Well, I'm not. I haven't packed yet, I haven't put everything together yet, and I feel like I'm forgetting to do something. It's all nerves before travel of course, but then again, I'm known for forgetting things. I should probably go over everything a few more times just to be safe.

That's a relief, it was all just in my head. I am ready. And even though it has been quite an adventure planning this trip, the real adventure will begin once I step onto that plane! The countdown continues, after today I only have 5 more days before we take off, and only 3 more days until my mother meets me (she has to fly to my home beforehand, then we will fly internationally together). In less than a week, A Tale of 3 Countries will begin.