I have completed my second round trip in the US, from Atlanta to Gainesville, FL.  The purpose of this trip was to move all of my belongings into my new house!  My amazing new roommates, Meg, Lisa and their pup Tucker, let me move all of  my stuff into my new room 2 months ahead of schedule, due to the lucky coincidence that caused the room’s former occupant to move out two days before I was scheduled to arrive.  It is extremely comforting to know that a) my new roommates are so laid back and accommodating of this crazy scheme of mine, b) none of my belongings are in danger of theft or damage sitting in a storage locker all summer and c) when I get home from this trip, my bed will be waiting for me.

A brief shout out to my superhero Dave, who drove the Budget truck from Atlanta to Gainesville with me following behind in my car, helped me unload and set up my room and was a generally awesome traveling companion.  Also a huge thank you to his wife for lending him to me for 3 days.  I could not have gotten this trip done without Captain Awesome!

I have just over a week now until domestic trip #3, a road trip to a wedding in Dallas, via New Orleans.  Then, the final domestic trip, a flight from Atlanta to New York a day before we depart for Barcelona.

Lindz, I second your question.  Can this really be happening?

I just finished a trip from Atlanta to Columbia, Missouri and back. 1400 miles total in 4 days. I had to deposit my dog, Matilda with my parents for the summer, so that she would be well taken care of while I galavant across Europe. So, now I am home alone, sad and weird without my puppy.

While the actual deposit and subsequent leaving my dog was a bit emotionally trying, the actual drive was lovely. Aside from a distinctive “driver’s tan,” which has left my left arm and shoulder two shades darker then my right arm, I had a chance to clear my mind, detox from the last few weeks of my (extremely toxic) job and enjoy the scenic drive. I love the mountains of Tennessee and am very fond of coming around the bend in I-70 to find the Gateway Arch of St. Louis on the horizon.

CDs I rediscovered during this road trip include:

• TLC-Crazy, Sexy, Cool
• The Miseducation of Lauren Hil
• Reel Big Fish- Cheer Up!
• 3 Doors Down- Its Not My Time

“Significant thoughts” that crossed my mind at some point during the drive:

• Someone could make a fortune by designing rest area dog parks and charging by 15 minute intervals
• Bumper stickers really only deface your car and become dated very quickly
• An HOV lane is great, but a more effective way to encourage people to carpool would be to restrict all single occupancy vehicles to one lane and let the rest of the cars have free reign.
• Gas stations will charge you for a paper cup full of ice, but restaurants will not.
• Naming a portion of a highway after someone is kind of lame, because no one pays any attention to those names, they just refer to the interstate number.

I currently earn my living as an event planner.  I have become an expert in anticipating every possibility, planning for all eventualities and thinking on my feet when unexpected issues arise.  A large part of my job is planning schedules for incoming delegations, which, in order to make efficient use of the rare and valuable time they have, are packed to the hilt with tours, meetings and visits to landmarks.

However, our adventure this summer is not a high powered delegation of university officials, statesmen and women or even visiting scholars. We are not aiming to blow through town, making brief contact with the “must see” list before moving on to the next country.  We aim to linger, to lounge, to soak in the local color, to step off the beaten path, to take the road not taken, to avoid clichés (and yes, the irony of that last one was intended.)

So, I am fighting a inner battle which may soon take on epic proportions.  I am accustomed to creating a by the hour itinerary of events, with notations like:

4:00pm- Tour of Local church with guide, Franco, (44.27.98.32, meet at base of statue)
5:15pm- Walking tour of waterfront
6:30pm- Dinner, location TB
8:00pm- Free concert in the main square
10:00pm- Return to hostel by curfew

I know that neither Lindsay nor I are looking for this amount of structure in our trip.  However, I also know that to avoid showing up at the Duomo or the Basicilla when they are closed, we need to plan ahead a little.  I am going to have to fight hard against my inner-event planner, and pare down my planning to a schedule that looks like this.

Monday- Local church tour, free concert in square, (Museums closed)
Tuesday- If sunny, beach, if rainy, museum
Wednesday- Reverse of Tuesday
Thursday- Train ride to next city, check into hostel by 5

I will let you know how this turns out!

I spent the afternoon with Rick Steves, of PBS fame.  Not literally, of course, but I spent nearly three hours reading his Venice 2007 guide book, then watched his television program as he roamed around Istanbul while I made dinner.  I have found his brand of travel guides; book, television show and website, to be most helpful, because they echo my sentiments about traveling as well.

Rick’s theory of travel seems to be: See the sights that the tourists come to see, then get as far away from them as possible. Especially in Europe, it is possible to travel there for weeks and never leave the “Intercontinental” hotels and Americanized restaurants.  Then, when you leave, you will have only experienced a transplanted version of home, for a much steeper price then if you had just stayed home.

I am happy that Lindsay is on board for the “Europe through the back door” approach to this trip.  I am hoping to linger in Italian piazzas with a gelato, sip coffee in small French cafes, wander through local markets, eat in tiny, family owned restaurants and pubs and experience all that Europe has to offer, off of the beaten path.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Venice 2007 guide book.  Aside from where the sites are located, how to find them, what time they are open and how much they cost, Rick has an entire section on the history of the region and why certain things are important to see.  All of this background information, from how Venice achieved world power after smuggling the remains of St. Mark into their city to why the gondolas are painted black (six coats of paint- the result of a 17th century law a doge enacted to eliminate competition between nobles for the fanciest rig) fascinates me and I am sure will deepen my appreciation of the city’s beauty and declining wealth.  I have yet to find another guide book who treats the history of the city with such interest and insists on tying it to every explanation of how to best travel the grand canal or what parts of the city to avoid.  I will be picking up more of Rick’s books as I go along!

First blog post! Woooo! I’m pretty new at this, so forgive me. I’m not used to posting my thoughts for the whole internet community to see… but here goes!

It occurred to me this morning that 6 weeks from now, my life will be very different then it has ever been before. Some things that I take for granted, like sleeping in the same bed every night, will change dramatically and I don’t know if that is for the better. Other things, however, will disappear for a glorious six weeks.

Here, then, is a list of things I will not miss:

• The daily grind
• Being treated terribly at work
• My cell phone
• Wearing high heels
• Atlanta drivers
• Atlanta traffic
• Atlanta pollen/smog that leaves everything yellow
• Scary afternoon thundershowers and the resulting power outages
• Carrying house keys
• 24/7 election coverage and whatever else Fox News is screaming about
• Involuntary but obsessive Facebook/Twitter/Email checking
• My washer and dryer, neither of which work the way they should
• Buying gas for my car
• Paying rent
• Doing dishes
• Grocery shopping at the local Publix
• Annoying American DJs on the radio (specifically the guy on DaveFM who apparently hates women and has no problem telling people about it)
• Super sized Coca-cola everywhere you turn
• Bad beer
• Annoying Emory girls who lament at how much they ate (a whole avacado) while drinking a margarita.

Reading through back sections of the NY Times travel section on-line has been a great way to get pumped about the trip while at work. (Since I work in an office focused on international themes, the NY Times is an acceptable non-work webpage).

I came across this article today and have spent the morning daydreaming about wandering down the cobblestone streets of these tiny towns outside of the tourist stops in the south of France. Perhaps we will can spend an afternoon on such simple pleasures.

The Barefoot Riviera

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

There are those who say we are crazy to plan a trip to Europe this summer. The dollar is weak against the Euro. The airlines are merging, bankrupting, canceling flights. And who goes to Europe any more?

The responsible thing to do would be to stay at my job through the end of July, scrimping and saving and putting money away for all the days that might be rainy over the next six years that I will be in graduate school. The grown-up thing to do would be to spend the rest of the summer settling into my new home in Florida and maintaining a physical mailing address for the entire summer.

However, rather then listen to reason or logic or perhaps even common sense, I am giving into my wanderlust, putting a few things into a backpack and wandering across the continent, in search of castles, art, culture, and new experiences. Luckily for me, Lindsay has agreed to come along, carrying half the load of the research, homework, and gear and I am hoping her fantastic photography will capture as much of the trip as possible. Stay tuned for more on our preparations, journey and reflections.