20 things you think about before you leave home for a year

I found this post in my drafts and chuckled a bit reading through this. While it’s hard to cope with missing big events that are important to loved ones, the rest of these bullets seem so trivial. Looking back, eight months later, I wish I hadn’t worried so much about the small stuff, and focused more on the positives that might come out of my upcoming year.

1. Shoes. What shoes do I bring?
2. I’ll miss my brother’s high school graduation.
3. I’ll miss my other brother’s middle school graduation.
4. No Christmas or Thanksgiving with the fam, either.
5. Holy shit — I’ll be TWENTY FIVE when I come back.
6. I wonder if I’ll actually come back.
7. I wonder who I’ll meet.
8. Maybe I’ll fall in love.
9. Or I’ll be the next Taken movie, except ‘based on a true story.’
10. I should start taking kickboxing for self-defense.
11. Will anyone notice that I’m gone?
12. I hope my friends visit me.
13. Should I blog?
14. Everyone blogs. Maybe I’ll Periscope.
15. Maybe I shouldn’t have a phone at all.
16. Is this the right thing to do?
17. What if I lose my job?
18. What if I go broke?
19. I should have saved more money.
20. This is gonna be dope.