This trip will be my first time leaving the country (excluding the times of crossing over the border into Canada as an infant). I am not so much as nervous about the actual flight than I am about how long we are supposed to be on the flight. 9 hours. Being a detail oriented person, it’s sometimes hard for me to step back and see the big picture until everything is taken care of. What I am worried about are the little details that are probably not the top concerns for people who are flying out of the country. This is what is running through my mind right now:

1. I really, really, really hope that nobody next to me snores (or is a mouth breather). This overnight flight thing is new to me, and I don’t think strangers will be accepting of my usual pillow-to-face attempts to get people to stop.

2. Should I bring my sour patch kids or my jolly rancher candy bites onto my carry-on? The jolly rancher bites are heavier, so I will probably put them in my suitcase, but they are resealable, an excellent marketing strategy that did influence my decision on buying them.

3. I’m trying to gage about how much time I will need tomorrow before we leave to be completely  ready to go, without thinking of more things I need to pack.

4. My main stressor on what to pack has been the shoe dilemma. How many is too many?

5. Will my aerosol cans combust on the plane? (I really need to find a definite answer for this before tomorrow.)

6. I hope the language barrier isn’t that big of a deal. The last time I was in a Spanish class was my sophomore year of high school (5 years ago). I remember the important things, like “bathroom,” “water,” and “French fries,” so I am basically set, right?

I know none of these things will matter once I’m in the city of Montevideo on Saturday morning, eager to embark on this new journey. I have heard so many great things about this trip and just Uruguay in general, and I am so thankful for this opportunity.