I still remember what it felt like when this journey first started.
You annoy your parents for several months, try to talk about them how much you would benefit from this challenge and convince yourself that you've not gone totally nuts, because you want to leave everything and everyone you know for a year full of overcoming social and mental obstacles and forcing yourself to adapt to a whole new environment. The thing is that this all only felt like a dream, not like something you couldn't just wake up from.
In addition to that, it all felt so far away. When there were about ten months left, I would constantly have thoughts in my mind like "Something's gonna go wrong, something will get in the way", "Yup, I'll definitely die in a car accident before that"; a little exaggerated, but you get the picture.
A few days ago, I received a letter with the title "Welcome Days". This was when I stopped to breath for a second, and realized: this is all happening. This is not just a dream. The start day of this adventure isn't months away anymore, and now that it feels so real, I have already started to imagine what it all would be like. Even what I'll pack, what kind of clothes and pictures and general stuff I'll take with me, (strongly believing I'll need them). Now it feels like the adventure has finally started.
But this is just the beginning.