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Alexis
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"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 |
May
1, 2003
A couple of
years ago, I took a look around and decided that it was time to
try something new. I thought about all the things I'd like to do in my
life, and the one that stood out was traveling for a year.
I was 28, I
had just survived my third (maybe fourth? who can keep track...) round of
Internet company layoffs, and I was working way too many
hours. The idea of quitting my job to jet around Europe loomed
like a mirage on the horizon. So I started to save money.
And here I am,
I've just turned 30, and in two weeks my dream will come
true.
During
those two weeks I'm going to get rid of all my furniture and the detritus of my
sedentary life, put a few precious mementoes in storage at my brother's
house, and hit the road. In two weeks, I will officially be
homeless. And unemployed.
I'm excited
and scared all at the same time. I've never been out of work (even
by choice), I've never been a nomad, and I'm leaving my friends and family
to see what this new life will be like. But I'm also living out my
dream, and I can't wait to find out where they will lead me. I'll post pictures and descriptions here as
often as the vagaries of the road will allow.
Thanks for
stopping by, and
please send me your comments and
suggestions.
January
1, 2004
It's
been 8 months since I left San Francisco and my old life, and I must
say, everything's going swimmingly! I spent 3 months driving
14,000 miles around the United States in a crazy, polka-dotted car taking pictures, talking to myself, never picking up a dirty towel
off a hotel bathroom floor, eating interesting new things like
prickly pear candy, fried cheese curds, and frozen custard, getting
way too close to alligators, and speeding.
After a
brief layover at my parents' house in California, I hopped on a
plane to Europe and spent 3.5 months traveling around there as
well. Unfortunately the car I leased there did not have polka
dots on it, but trust me, I got plenty of strange looks
anyway. I put 8,000 miles on that car in 9 weeks running
around to every city I could get my grubby little hands on, and you
get to see all the pictures in the Europe section.
I
learned several life lessons on
this trip that I think we can all benefit from:
- Do
not carry a purse in Barcelona when you've had too much absinthe
- If
you're only going to have one pair of shoes for 3 months, make
sure they're waterproof
- Do
not wear bright red lipstick in Spain unless you're on the make
- Do
not eat bread with pasta in France - apparently that's against
the rules, and they WILL get snooty about it
- Mexican
food in Spain is not a good thing
- Do
not drive into Switzerland unless you'd like to pay 30 euros
just to drive 5 miles on their stupid highways
- All
sex museums are the same - seen one, you've seen them all
- And
finally, do NOT pet the monkeys on the rock of Gibraltar
Now I'm back in
California, the holidays are over, and I'm figuring out what to do
next. Stay tuned!
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