Saying Goodbye

I don't officially leave the country until Monday but I am leaving our fair city tomorrow night after a Brooklyn Cyclones game.

I have been saying my goodbye's in a very laid back way. It's not like I will be gone forever. It will only be a month. And, let's face it, there are some of you out there who live less than 20 blocks away from me whom I have not seen in about three months so really... no drama needed.

I had dinner tonight with someone I hold very dear to my heart.

He gave me great advice. He said "Don't let anyone hijack your trip".

I think this is really smart advice because while I am technically "travelling alone" a lot of my vacation will be spent with friends, family, extended family, etc. And while it will be glorious to see them and travel with them and get their insight on the many destinations that lie ahead... it will still be vital for me to experience things my way. To truly have my trip. It costs a lot to travel around Europe and I damned well better have the experience I want while I am there!

This fella advised that I go back to Paris alone for a few days. Or, to follow that urge to spend a few days alone in Champagne or surfing in Ireland. He thinks it will be very important for me to have that unplanned, alone time. He said to "welcome the curve balls" and to throw a few curve balls myself. I think I am going to take his advice.

So, goodbye New York.

I leave you as a 23 year old woman who has only begun to scratch the surface of solo travel.

Hopefully, I will return to you a more wordily, more open, more confident woman of 24.

(The photo being shared this evening is what I looked like in June of 2007. 21 years old. JKF airport. Never been to Europe. About to fly away with my best friend. Excited!)

The finely tuned art of procrastination

I leave in a week and I am packed.

Well, about 90% packed, that is.

The trouble with leaving for a month and being a clotheshorse is you end up packing a LOT of clothes (and shoes and scarves and...). In this case almost all of the clothes I have packed are the clothes I would normally wear on a daily basis in the city in the summer.

This leaves me with the difficulty of having "nothing to wear" this final week or, alternatively, wearing clothes that I have already packed.

Unsurprisingly I have opted to unpack the previously packed items and "try them out". I need to make sure all the outfits are cute, functional, and can be multi purposed for varying climates (the mountains of Ireland to the French Riviera and many things in between). So, while 3 days ago I was 90% packed I am now 45% packed.

The other issue that arises with packing is the mess that goes along with it.

I have a dear friend moving in for three of the weeks that I am away. I would like the place to be spic and span for her arrival. Fresh sheets, fresh flowers and zero dust bunnies.

In order to clean, I need to pack, in order to pack, I need it to be closer to the beginning of my trip. Ugh.

I also need to pick up a few more items, finish typing up and printing out my home made travel guide, brush up on my extremely limited French, etc.

Instead of doing any of this I have started a new schedule.

Up until a week ago I was working 12 hours, waking up by 7am every morning and feeling very productive. The new schedule, however, goes something like this...

-Wake up at noon (or later... like 2:30)

-Lounge around in my pj's

-Watch old law and order episodes

-Head out in the late afternoon for leisurely picnics or lingering dinners with friends

-Stay out late sipping Bourbon and meeting new friends

All of this is delightful in theory but quite destructive to my whole very organized, well thought out, early packing travel plan.

It looks like old habits die hard for this procrastinator. Hopefully this won't carry over to the actual trip...

(the picture in the post today was taken in Paris near the Musee de l'Orangerie)

My First Blog Entry (an original title, don't you think?)

Tonight, I attended a concert put together by my friend Lydia (aka Blue Kid).
The first thing she said to me was "Oh my God, you're leaving for Europe for like, ever, soon!"

Not quite true. I will be leaving for Europe in roughly one week and I will be gone for roughly one month. I guess that might seem like forever...

I have been to Europe once before. In 2007 I went to Prague, Nice and Paris with my best friend of a million years. My only regret from that trip is that I didn't document it with my words more thoroughly. I got distracted when we left Prague for France and, well, my notebook stayed mostly blank. (I did however document my trip photographically. The photo to the left was taken on my first day in Prague. Ah, so gorgeous!)

On this jaunt, I will be in Ireland, France, England and perhaps Denmark. A lot of the trip has been preplanned but I have left a decent amount of wiggle room, an opportunity to let life happen.
Some of the time will be spent alone in hotels, some with family, some with friends, some with distant cousins I have never met.

Anyway, I don't really "blog" or write in general. I keep notebooks. I write down funny quotes and I make odd lists and share some stories with myself. I used to have an online journal. It was very self indulgent. High school drama and all that rot.

I have always had many stories floating around in my head. Most of them true and most of them about me. But, I have always lacked the confidence to share them because I am not a "writer". No, I am an actress, a singer, a producer, a nanny, a friend, a people person, I run a theatre company. I am many things but, a writer? Hm, not so much.

I mentioned this lack of writing ability to Lydia tonight but she insisted I keep a travel blog. She said it would be fascinating because she "likes the way my mind works". Hearing this from Lydia, who I consider to be one of the most talented, quirky and fascinating minds I have experienced, was reason enough for me to take up the mantle of "blogger" or "writer" or whatever.

So, here it is, my online travelogue.
I will update it intermittently while I am on the road.


Hopefully you will bare with my improper grammar, many typos and my lack of html knowledge. Inserting links, jumps, captioning photos? How would I know how to do that? Ha!

Enjoy!

Sarah Ann