Ten weeks to go and already I have developed a hatred of Spanish bureaucracy, lost and found my passport several times during my preparations, and have scrapped all of my well-laid plans and now have no idea what I am going to do beyond getting on a plane to Germany on December 21st and somehow ending up in Spain with a working holiday visa (so far un-obtained) at some point. None of this bodes well!
If the Spanish embassy is anything to judge Spain by, its going to be an frustrating venture; the working holiday scheme is brand new and no one there has any idea what is going on, what the rules are, and how long I should expect things to take. I've had several different stories from different people, so I am just going to hope no one in Spain knows either and I can just wing everything.
The tentative plan begins with arriving in time to spend Christmas with Hauke and his family in Germany, heading over to the Czech Republic for a baby's 1st birthday and to meet Miguel before going back to Berlin for New Year's Eve with both of them - my two best friends in the same place for the first time ever, one of the most exciting things about the trip! I was then going to travel around Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France before crossing the border into Spain, staying with a whole lot of friends along the way.My biggest worry at the moment is that I have to go to Spain in January and sort out a few things before I can head back to Germany and keep traveling. As no one can tell me how long to expect this to take, and I am suspicious that any turnaround time in Spain is much more of a guideline that is often extended, I might just pick some dates when flights are cheap and hope it all works out one way or the other!
The next ten weeks are going to be madness, trying to finish off my degree, wind things up at work (during what was already going to be a hectic time there) pack up the house, and cross a million things off a million to-do lists - so I should stop procrastinating and get on with it!
