As a sailor in the United States Navy, I am beginning to know pre-travel stress very well. This week it weighs heavily on my shoulders as I prepare for the biggest move of my lifetime. I have been stationed in Guam. What do I know about this tiny pacific island? Only what google has told me.
The island is 30 miles long and 4-12 miles wide. It experiences the occasional earthquake and has a wicked rainy season. Weather is characterized as tropical marine, and it never goes below a comfortable 76 °F. The people are supposedly very friendly and the economy depends on tourism.Those are the few facts I know about my soon to be home. I've read a few blogs centered around life in Guam, but didn't learn much else. I've seen plenty of pictures of the beautiful beaches and resort's courtesy of my grandmother; a woman who does not quite understand what means to be in the military. She believes that since I work on a ship and I live near a beach, I have the perfect recipe for a life of vacation and paradise. My stress though is not due to the trivial things I do not know about the island. That is why we travel isn't it? To learn things about new places that we would have only otherwise learnt from books or the internet. No, my current frazzled state is due to the details that I couldn't possibly know. Things such as, do I need to bring a jacket even though the average low temperature is so warm? How soon after I arrive will I be able to procure myself a cellphone that not only works on the island but also allows me to call back to the US? Where is the post office, because I most definitely will think of something for my mom to send me. How will my family and boyfriend react to limited phone and Skype calls due to the enormous time difference? These are just a few of the never ending flow of unanswerable questions running through my head. For now I am focusing on the small tasks at hand; purchase my plane ticket, make reservations for the hotel I will be staying in during my week of leave, buy more luggage, and spend as little money as possible. Looks like it will be galley food for me for the next two weeks. My advice for those that want it is when taking a trip, try not to focus on the impossible to answer questions. Save your money, plan your trip, and try to enjoy it once your there. Not everyone is as lucky as those who travel.
