Overall Impressions of My First Solo International Trip

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One of the things that worried me the most as I was planning and preparing for my trip to Germany the week of November 21st was that I was going alone.  I am not a leader.  I don't like to be in charge.  If I can defer to someone else's knowledge, skills, experiences, and abilities, I will and I will like it.  Where this became a problem with traveling alone is that there would be no one else to step up - I would have to be the expert for myself.  Sure, I could ask the natives, but I would have to do it, and that would be scary.  Figuring out the train system, getting on the right one, buying tickets, checking in to hotels, restaurants, subways, directions...all scarry.

What I discovered though is that the things that scared me the most were some of the easiest things to do.
That I am a capable person.

I was also surprised at how comfortable I was.  I guess I never realized how many things I do alone, because the alone-ness really didn't bother me.  I mean, I have a roommate, friends and a sister in town, but our lives are pretty independent of each other's.  I shop, go to lunch, make major purchases, go to church, drive and fly by myself all of the time.  Being in Germany was no different.   The only thing that was different about the whole experience is that the people around me spoke a different language, and one that I at least had a 2nd grade level knowledge of.  So here's to the things I learned and loved on my adventure!