Preparation.

I've got a slight temperature. That's not ideal preparation for France, particularly considering that my flight is on Saturday morning. Google tells me that the temperature in Lyon, where I'll be touching down, is generally around 20 degrees Celsius, in spite of it being summer. The temperature in Malaysia, on the other hand, is typically at above 30 degrees, even at night. Having a flu in France would not be enjoyable.

In terms of my other preparations, I'm pretty much good to go; all I need to do now is to pick out the clothes I'll be bringing along. As far as planning my journey goes, I decided not to go too much into detail, because circumstances are more likely to dictate what I'll be up to rather than some extensive itinerary. Basically, I have a plan, but it's more flexible than I suppose a lot of other people would like.

I expect to face challenges while in France, not least the long fasting hours of over 18 hours per day, which is quite daunting when you compare it to the relatively tame 13 hours we get here in Malaysia. As I will be a traveler, however, I'll have the option of not fasting. I'll try not to exercise it, but I fear I may have to at some point.

It'll be an interesting time to be in France, as the Euros will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to town. There'll be loads of other people coming to France for the first time, and loads who know even less of the local language than I do (I've been learning French bit by bit for over six months now). Maybe it's possible that I'll get to know new people and be on the receiving end of some kindness from strangers.

I probably won't be watching any of the football (tickets have been sold out for quite a while), but I've planned my trip so that I'll at least be in the vicinity of some of the matches taking place in the cities I'll be visiting. There'll be fan zones and stuff, and it would be fantastic to see these things in the flesh. I won't be able to attend any matches, so I'll just have to settle for soaking up the matchday atmosphere.

I'm planning to vlog my experiences in France, and I'm sure I'll hardly be the only one. People do it all the time these days, and I'm certain some people who actually vlog for a living will be doing their thing there as well. It's a practice that is still somewhat looked down upon in Malaysia, but if people can embrace selfies, they can embrace vlogging as well.

I'm also planning to write regularly over this coming month. The last time I went abroad - to Saudi Arabia to perform umrah - I had a lot I wanted to write about, but I barely had the time and facilities to do so while I was there, and upon reaching home I kinda put it off until I decided that the trip was best consigned to memory.

I guess things have changed since then, because I'm determined not to have the same thing happen this time around. I'm a different person from who I was when I decided not to write about umrah over two years ago - heck, I'm a different person from who I was even a month ago. I'll also be a different person a month from now - this time, I'm documenting that journey of change. I named this blog Evolution for a reason, after all.