Priorities

A number of things about my trip have taken up much of my brain power lately. Namely the following:
1) Communication
2) Coming back
3) Wine

I have had every bit of advice possible given to me regarding how much communication I should have with the States while I'm Italy. Some want me to swear off all lines of communication other than telephone calls - others want ample blogging with photos, updates, the works. I have a feeling it falls somewhere in the middle. My iPhone will most likely go silent except for phone calls to my parents and in dire lonely situations. My laptop will most likely remain in the States for two reasons, 1) it's way too freakn' heavy to lug around everywhere and 2) it's not technically mine, it's my company's. If I lose it, I in biiiggg trouble. So, an iPad it is. Smaller, lighter, durable and private, it will most likely be my next purchase. I've decided to only have it WiFi enabled, that way I don't have 'real time' updates. Farming in the middle of the nowhere kinda loses it's purpose when your phone is going off with text messages. Beyond that, I don't know what I'm going to do over there - how much I email, Fbook, whatever. One of my friends just embarked on her own 7 month excursion and while she checks in every so often on Fbook, she by no means is connected on a regular basis from what I can tell. Maybe I'll just drop a line, 'hey, I'm alive' - ha - don't think my mom would like that very much.

Coming home has me equally concerned. I decided to take this trip for a reason (I'll get into that more later). I've talked with a few close friends about what it's like to feel stuck in your job, career, family situation, whatever it may be. How nice would it be to shrug off that weight - those things that keep you in one place, keep you in one job, keep you from following that dream. What if you could shrug it all off and just go? Albeit, my 'time away' is nothing. 3 months isn't even a drop in a bucket. BUT, it's something. It's unsticking myself from the grind, the cubicle, the laptop, the hunched over shoulders. When I come back, I don't want to go back to the same old same old. I don't think my trip is going to 'fix' anything, but I wouldn't mind a bit more perspective. We all talk about happiness - what that means. Money, possessions, love, family, not living paycheck to paycheck. It's different to everyone. Don't get me wrong, I have an amazing life. I think it may be time to shift the focus a bit though - what that means, I'm not quite sure of.

And really, for anyone who knows me, this is the most important topic: how to get the wine home (j/k). You'd be sickened to hear how much research I have actually done on the subject - what bag to buy at what weight, what the insulators should be, how many bottles, what about olive oil, where in the trip do I start to grab bottles... the list goes on. I think I've settled on grabbing a cheap bag to check over in Italy and then hauling back 12 bottles of something - olive oil and wine. It may seem ridiculous to some, but I love my wine.