WARREN, Ohio – Four days from today I’ll be living an entirely different life. It will be one that is a little more exciting, a little more pressured, a little more fast-paced and nothing like the quiet towns in Ohio where I’ve lived.

I’m moving to New York City for the summer. I’ve got an internship at a trade magazine in the city and I start there on Tuesday.

I don’t know what to expect. I’ve been to the city before, but always as a tourist. I didn’t have to go grocery shopping or wash my clothes. I didn’t have to ride the subway and get to work on time. I also wasn’t there alone.

I’m a little concerned about this. I’ve lived three hours from home the past three years of my life, but since the first day I stepped on campus as a freshman, I had an automatic group of friends to be with (thank you, FMB).

I’ve been to Europe twice, and both of those times were with friends and other BGSU students. One would think an extended stay in a place I’ve been to before where the people I will be interacting with speak my native language wouldn’t be worrisome to me. But it is.

Don’t worry, though. Alison Kemp isn’t going somewhere unprepared. I have books the subway system. I even have a deck of cards with 52 different New York City adventures. I have a job and a room and a long list of things I want to do during my 11 weeks as a city girl.

This column is going to be about all the things I do during my time in New York City. It’s going to be about what it takes to survive, the people I meet, the places I visit, the awkward moments of being a Cleveland Indians fan in Yankee country, and whatever else happens (or doesn’t happen) to me.

The one thing I am anticipating the most about this journey is seeing my apartment. It’s going to be tiny, and there’s a possibility that I might not be sleeping in a bedroom. The smallest apartments in the New York University apartment building I am staying in have a bedroom that is 6 x 8 and sleeps only one person. The other person sleeps in the living room. Fabulous, eh?

These small facilities mean that I can’t take anything extra. Those of you who know me know that I like to be prepared. This summer, I will have to survive not being prepared for every possible situation.

This will be good practice for me, though. I will go from having to fit all of my effects into a small car and small apartment to fitting into two suitcases and a couple of boxes.

I’m spending the school year studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria, and I can take even fewer things there and I’ll be there for nine months.

Every time I think about how small my room might be, I think about something my mother told me a couple of weeks ago. She said, ‘Remember, you could be spending your summer living at home.’ And no matter what my room is like or how small a selection of clothes or books or first aid supplies I have with me, life in New York City will be a much grander adventure than living at home.

So, readers, thank you for taking the time to read my first column. I hope you continue reading every week and learn a little bit more about the world and our neighbors closer to home. I know you’ll learn more about me, and I hope my reflections will get you to stop and think about who you are, too.

Please, send me suggestions and questions. Maybe you have a favorite restaurant or place to visit in New York City (especially in Brooklyn because that’s where I’m living) or maybe you’ve always heard about some place and want to know if it is worth the wait. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] or check out my blog at www.travelintheglobe.blogspot.com. I can’t wait to hear from you!