The Plan & The Unplanned

So, a few months back I got this crazy idea that all the traveling that I’ve been wanting to do didn’t have to be put off any longer. I could give notice, buy a one-way ticket, extract myself for all my projects in Santa Cruz, and leave for an indefinite period of time. Home will remain in Santa Cruz and, of course, I will come back eventually and reinvest myself in this little city.

It all started because I wanted to visit Fhar in Egypt. He moved there a little over a year ago and I can’t stand to have a friend in such a strange, foreign land without visiting him. I invited myself to stay with Fhar and his (un)wife, Adrienne, for a month. This was a period of time long enough to justify the plane ticket and short enough that I could still return to my jobs and my house. But, then, as I began to talk to friends and acquaintances about my plans, the vision of what this trip could be began to expand: “you can stay with my family in Israel,” said one woman; “I’ll be in Turkey around the same time,” said another; new friends in Barcelona and Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam; a suggestion that I bike tour. Before I knew it, I had enough activities, companions and places to stay that a duration of one month seemed grossly inadequate. I was faced with the question of whether to trim down my plans or commit to an open-ended voyage.

A very wise friend who will rarely share her opinion with out being prompted, Joanie said: You’ve been talking about leaving and moving to another country since I met you, but you always say “next year”; just go. And so, I’m going.

The Plan, so far…

John Caletti is building a custom touring bike for me that ought to be ready by the end of February. I’ll fly into Barcelona, where Gilad lives. He has been gracious enough to allow me to leave my bike there while I go to Cairo. I’ll spend a month, more or less, with Fhar and Adrienne in April/Mayish. I hope to spend a little while in Alexandria or somewhere on the coast where I expect it to be less hectic than in Cairo.

Back in Barcelona, I will probably stick around until I get bored or until Gilad kicks me out or until my sister shows up. Sister Alyssa wants to join me for a bike ride. There is a young bike-church-type project in the neighborhood where I’ll be staying in Barcelona and I’m excited to participate while I’m there. I’m not sure what sort of language barrier I’ll be dealing with there; I am told that Catalá is strongly preferred to Castellano.

Later I’ll ride and take the train north. I’d like to make it to Amsterdam by late June so that I can visit Nicole. I’ll mostly rely on CouchSurfing and the WWOOF program to get me through June cheaply. I’m sure it will be spectacular in Amsterdam and difficult to pull myself away from the bike capital of the world. I’d like to go back down to Paris for a month of language study in July. Cabrillo facilitates a French study program through one of the fancy language schools during July; it would be nice to see some friendly faces for my first time in Paris.

After July, I just have a jumbled brainstorm of potential places and activities. These are a few:

• Sirka, my former housemate, lives in Berlin.
• Irene is an aquaintance currently living in Santa Cruz, but she’s from Madrid and will be there for most of next Summer.
• Cory grew up in Romania with her Grandmother who is still there and, apparently, she’d love to have me visit. She doesn’t speak any English. I don’t speak Romanian. The countryside is supposedly spectacular.
• Alicia, of the Oakland bike girl scene, will be touring through Denmark and a few other countries during the later part of the Summer.
• I could try to find work as an Au Pair in France, and thus continue studying French.
• If that falls through, I could do a stint as an undocumented laborer in the agricultural sector.

And some really crazy ideas:

• Algeria? Morocco? Studying Arabic?
• Meet up with Blaize in Istanbul?
• Suggestions?

And the rest is super unknown. My initial plan is to be gone for at least six months and longer if possible. I’d like to learn French, make some new friends, and put myself in some places or communities where I don’t really know what I’m doing. This is supposed to be a learning experience. Or something. The only constraint, as far as I’m concerned, is the cost of a ticket home and the value of my bank account. The rest is completely up in the air.

~ by Elaina on November 10, 2008.