Well I'm back to the blogging world after quite some time and I'm excited to be leaving for a whole year of traveling (and studying) abroad.
I will be in Accra, Ghana for the first 5 months studying at the University of Ghana. I'm hoping to travel within Ghana and Western Africa and I'm thrilled that both Jacob and Kaisa will also be studying there (travel buddies!)
In January I'm heading to a different continent to study in Spanish (eek!) I'll be in Mexico City at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México until June. Afterward the plan is to head to Central America (we shall see how the funds are doing at that point!)
Before all of that I'm going to visit some old friends starting in New York and making my way through London, Stockholm, and Helsinki before finally flying to Accra!
I thought it would be a good idea to outline some goals that I have for this amazing year I've been granted. So here are 5 aims for the year. We shall see how it goes...
1) One of my biggest priorities is to enjoy the year and stop worrying! For those of you that know me well you know that I can sometimes (often) be a chronic worrier. I've come to realize that it gets me nowhere faster and so from now on I will attempt to reign in my fears and anxieties. Hakuna Matata, right?
2) I really want to come out of this year with a stronger grasp of the Spanish language. I feel like I'm on the brink of fluency but not quite there yet. I mean I can understand most things when people speak slow but I'm going to MEXICO. Haha. So hopefully I will be able to understand "Mexican" Spanish after the year as well!
3) Writing more and learning more about photography are also on my to do list. Hopefully this blog gives me an incentive to work on my writing skills (or lack thereof) and also to ocassionally post an amazing picture. I tend to focus on people shots but I know that some of you really like to see the landscape and/or architecture of a place so I will try to take humans out of some pictures.
4) Trying or doing something that is out of my comfort zone at least once a week, preferably every day. I'm hoping to take a dance class, eat some food that looks "scary" and maybe even play with rats. Hahaha. Just kidding about the last one. I'm still going to avoid rats like the plague.
5) Lastly, I'll update my friends and family more at home. Whether it be on this blog or through facebook, I hope that people will still know that I'm alive and thinking about them. And please comment on my wall or blog posts, as I want to hear how YOU are doing too! My emails is rochelle.wagner@gmail.com and I love receiving emails (just not quite as good at the responding thing yet!)
Well that's all for now, I'll try to post more updates as my trip progresses. For now I'll leave you with this blog post that I read: 21 Signs You're a Travel Addict
