Some have said when you head out from home on an adventure that has been months, sometimes years, in the planning is a great feeling. Personally, I feel tense until I have checked-in, dropped the bags and cleared security and customs. Then I start to feel the excitement replace the tension as I head for the lounge and that first champers of the trip.
Technically I have that slightly nervous feeling right up until I'm checked in at the hotel at the other side, doesn't mean I don't very much so enjoy the trip, but I am aware that there are multiple steps along the way that months of careful planning could go astray eg...
- Customs (outbound) decides my passport is no longer valid and won't let me leave the country (I know someone who had this happen. It was a mistake made by immi on their DB, but needless to say it screwed up his travel plans)
- The Airline or Customs (inbound) decides I have the wrong visa, or I'm attempting to do visa-less travel when in fact I need one.
- The car hire place does not have my booking or does not accept my card (I've had this happen to me, luckily the first time it was arranged through work so I called up my boss and said "fix it", the second time I said thank you very much, walked out, caught the bus back to LAX, and hoped on the next car hire bus I saw)
- The hotel won't accept my card (had this happen as well, luckily I was able to get them to take a deposit)
- My chosen method of getting money does not work, or does not work as widely as I expected (eg driving around multiple servo's in Anaheim looking for an ATM which will accept my AU card, not much fun)
Of course, even with the multiple points where things could go astray, I still absolutely love every minute of travel, and always consider it an adventure.