hello all.

I don't know exactly how many people will read this, (if any) but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katie. I'm a 20 something who lives in NJ with her parents (a less then ideal situation for me but we're all making do for now). Currently, I've been looking for work with little luck (damn you economy), so it's been unsettling. In between job interviews and with gaps of time on my hands I began thinking: What if I could just do something for myself before hunkering down into the world of 9-5? Something adventurous and exciting, with no one to answer to and nothing to worry about? It was a foreign concept, since I'm the biggest worrier on the planet and everything NEEDS to be planned within an inch of it's life, but it entered my brain.

What if I could go where ever I wanted? Around Christmas, I was stuck on bed rest with full blown Pneumonia and started dreaming of warm climates: Florida, Arizona, California. I've been fascinated with visiting different areas of the country since high school, but it had never crept into my sub conscious quite like this. It hasn't left me since.

Shortly before New Years, my slightly out there but endearing Aunt Lynn told me all about her travels as a college student in Europe. She was "scared shitless", she said. This shocked me. A woman who has been to China? Who went with her kayaking club to New Zealand just to visit Lord of the Rings locations? Who traveled to an island I'd never even heard of of until it was featured on Survivor? It was oddly comforting, to hear that even my superhero could be afraid. She traveled just to do it, and returned from her first trip unharmed.

I have rarely left my comfort zone as an adult. After the death of my mother, I became a bit of nervous nelly. Driving freaks me out. So does being away from home. I used to be fearless, taking on the world in my dirty chuck taylors, believing I could be anything. Could I reach into that part of my soul again? I've decided I could certainly give it a try. And so, I'm here to announce that I will be picking a destination to visit and updating you on my travels, with very little money and no job prospects in sight. Wish me luck. Kidlet Katie is cheering the adult woman on. She's a little older, a little wiser...and now wearing sneakers.