It's Official: Passport's Here

Finally! You have no idea how excited I am about this - my first passport ever!

This is big. Huge.

I can finally go out of the country and travel anywhere I want. There's such a freedom in having a passport that I never thought about before. I actually feel like I have nothing holding me back anymore.

Now that I finally have a passport, all the places I've dreamed about visiting have a startling possibility of coming true. Finance allowing, I really could go anywhere I want now.

"There are no strings on me"

If you're interested, I've set up a Pinterest page of all the places I'd love to see - It's gotten to the point where I'll have to live for 200 years to see everything.. haha.

Here's a preview:

Europe here I come!!!

First Stop Sweden!

Alright, I've been planning this trip since last winter, and I still have such a ways to go! Why? I'm happy to announce that I'm planning a trip to Sweden next summer for two months. Two months! I know, its a long time, but this will be my first time ever being out of the U.S. I don't even have a passport - not yet! Acutally, I don't have my own luggage either.

I've been working at my part time job for eight months now, and I've saved up quite a bit. My overall budget for this trip is $6,400. This includes the price of the passport, plane ticket, luggage, hotel/hostels and just extra spending money when I'm there. I'm hoping to have at least $3,000 left over for spending money. The current exchange rate for Swedish Krona is 1.00 USD = 6.86 SEK. So my overall budget in Krona will be about 43,902 kr.

Here's my planned route so far:

I'll fly to Copenhagen, Denmark then take a boat over to Sweden. Flying to Copenhagen is actually much cheaper than flying to Sweden. I'll make my way up the east side of Sweden and finish in Kiruna. Instead of going all the way back from Kiruna, I hope I can just take a small flight to Lund in the southernmost part of Sweden. I can stay there for a few days then head back home!

Here's a list of all the cities I'll be visiting. I might not stop for long in some of them but I'll pass through them.

A: Copenhagen

B: Lund

C: Helsingborg

D: Gothenburg

E: Jöngköping

F: Linköping

G: Norrköping

H: Stockholm

I: Uppsala

J: Gävle

K: Söderhamn

L: Hudiksvall

M: Sundsvall

N: Örnsköldsvik

O: Umeå

P: Skellefteå

Q: Luleå

R: Gällivare

S: Kiruna

I'm so excited! Planning this trip has been so much fun. I can't wait!