Travel Planning: the Art of Overcoming Insanity

I've been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go next, and it's turned into a bit of a cerebral mind game that changes from day to day.

Recently I was leaning towards South America (in general, nowhere specifically) and spent several hours researching all the amazing things to do in the entirety of South America. Then, before I cemented any sort of plan down, the doubt sank in.

I started thinking about a book we read in Latin American Politics class in university, "Children of Cain" by Tina Rosenberg, and her extremely detailed recounting of all the assassins in Bogota Columbia. Then, I remembered the movie "Proof of Life" and how it's not 100% unheard of for tourists to actually be kidnapped and held hostage for ransom. I then started imagining myself accidentally wandering into a garage full of hundreds of 50 kilo bags of cocaine, an obscene number of machine guns, and a smattering of burlap bags full of slave-harvested coffee beans, followed by the eruption of an epic and horrible battle royale between rival drug lords. I am shot to death in a slo-mo montage of melodramatic facial expressions.

There's a chance I'm an insane person.

I also tend to do this thing where I can't imagine myself getting out of the routine I'm currently involved in. Like, how could I possibly hop on a plane and go travel for several months when all my stuff is in my house, and I have a job, and roommates; like how do I just leave without confronting all this infrastructure and putting in like, effort and stuff??

In addition to being insane, I am also my own worst enemy when it comes to putting up roadblocks.

Then, on top of all this uncertainty, and nay-saying, and procrastinating, my sister drops a bomb on me this Christmas.

"I'm taking you on a trip. One flight under $700.00 paid for by me (or my airline credits anyway) to anywhere West Jet flies."

In my head this is like, the magical unicorn of Christmas gifts. You never just get a free flight out of the blue like this. The possibilities are endless!

Except not really. Sister-face only can get about a week off, and if I'm still working this nine-to-fiver, I can probably can only get about that off too. Alright, somewhere in North America then.

But then again no. Because finding somewhere both sister and I would have fun is next-level impossible. She loves the beach, I'm allergic to the sun. She looks like an Amazonian princess and can get into any club at any time, I look like Danny Devito's marginally more attractive second cousin. The list goes on.

Couple this with the absolute SHIT exchange rate the Canadian dollar is experiencing right now and the options are dwindling fast. So far, a few days in Los Angeles is leading the top billing.

But then there's that whole methane leak thing happening in California, so maybe not.

I suppose I'll just keep planning for something, and attempt to overcome whatever crippling fear fantasies pop into my head while doing so.

FORGE ONWARD!