Expectations of NOLA 2020

I have been VERY excited for this trip ever since signing up! I had a little bit of anxiety at first because this will be my first trip with out either my boyfriend or family. I'm pretty much over that now! I think that the trip is going to be busy. but very fun. Our days are pretty full for the most part, but we have times to ourselves which I appreciate. I think that this trip is going to be very informational and full of enjoyable experiences. I took this course because it is a great excuse to travel and even better way to gain course credits. I thought that it would be a great way to spend a break and lead into classes starting again. From this trip I hope to learn a lot about the history of New Orleans. My boyfriend and I have started a tradition of going to an LSU football game in Baton Rouge every year. We have done that for the last 3 years now. This year, now that we are both of legal drinking age, we decided to stay in New Orleans. After being there once, I am really excited to go on the tours since we did not do much of that while we were there. I'm really excited to learn more about a city that I enjoy so much. I hope to gain unforgettable memories and loads of information I can come home and tell my family about.

Packing, Preparing, and of course... OVER PACKING!

Knowing that we are suppose to be leaving soon and won't have time to pack day of departure (which I am usually guilty of), I started to look into baggage restrictions, the itinerary for the trip, and the weather during the time we are in New Orleans. I had been in New Orleans late October and I found out the hard way that you NEED comfortable shoes to survive in this city. Deciding on which shoes I was bringing was one of the first decisions I made in regards to packing. Then I started to piece together outfits to wear each day. For every day I packed a nice, trendy outfit and also a comfy, relaxed outfit. I'm very indecisive when it comes to the outfit for the day so I had to give myself options! It took me three days to pack my clothing for the trip.I had my clothes packed then I would get anxious about what I was bringing and go through my suitcase add and get rid of some things. I did that about 6 times! After getting my clothes packed I made a list of the hair products, bathroom products, and make up that I would be taking with me so that I could pack them the morning of departure. The only thing I had to buy was baby wipes for the train ride, to get washed up. After that I began to get my book bag ready. I packed a notebook, my planner, and a binder I had put together for the course. I put a sticky note on my bag so I didn't forget my laptop or the charger. I added a few extra things like adult coloring books and a book to read during the train ride. 

As for my home life while I am gone, my boyfriend and I had to make arrangements for one day of the trip because he will be out of town also. We have two dogs and a cat that we had to make arrangements for, but that was not difficult! 

Hailey, Hope and I began to do research for what to do on our free day but decided that we were going to wait until we were experiencing NOLA to make a decision. I'm excited for the trip and feeling relieved that I have packing done as it is not my usual to be packed before 24 hours prior to departure.