Chapter 6: Luchow, Germany!

"I Miss my Tennessee home

I can see the ways that I grown

I can't see this world unless I go

Outside my Southern Comfort Zone"

-Brad Paisley

Germany!

To begin let me talk about some stereotypes. First, German people are the most like Americans I've seen so far. No socks and sandals here, and everyone says hello a if I was back in the South. Second, Germens are giants, I've never seen so many woman taller than me. Third, everyone has the most tame beuatiful dogs in the world, seriously. Which is opposite of France where every dog wanted to rip off your neck.

Even hoodlums have lapdogs here.

"The Potato Hotel"

I need to confess I have been in Germany for two weeks and haven't seen any major sites or cities. Thats how this program works - you find yourself in the middle of the rural country. And that's sometimes the best place to be! I never thought I'd think the German landscape would beat the French, but touché! I am living in a small town in-between Hamburg and Berlin, and its absolutely beautiful:

While here I am staying at Kartoffel Hotel, or in English, "Potato Hotel." Its a very nice hotel and restaurant that people come to from all over Germany to experience. Think of it like a Blue Ridge or Gatlinburg(minus circus attractions) of Germany. They are very series about their kartoffeln! Every meal has potatoes (not to say that's all it has, I've been in eating luxury food for two weeks!), and you can even go to the potato spa where most things are made from potatoes.

Courtyard of hotel 

Some dinners

My room

Dining Room of the Restaurant. 

Volunteering with the staff here has been enjoyable. Imagine me arriving to this place, walking into the stone courtyard to the reception and asking "I am a workaway...do you speak english?" to which the lady responds in the heaviest accent "we speak in full sentences!" Turns out they don't, no one speaks English (unlike where I was in France)  and I love it because I am finally learning the language of the place (ich spreche in ganzen Sätzen)! The staff here is very nice though, and im shuffled between shinning glasses in the bar to gardening in the back. Lately I've been painting an amazing set of patio furniture!

Today we leave here. This is a big day because it marks the end of our 9 weeks of workawaying. From here on its a different city every other night and eating bread, Nutella, and cookies. Feel free to send me vitamins or money for food as ill be highly malnourished when I return. 

Return plan!

Last year in North Africa I took a few classes just on homesickness. The first thing taught is that the turn of the third week and third month are usually the most difficult. Currently, I am at that second stage. I am not homesick to say, but I do miss home (those who've been homesick know the difference - you become blind to any good things at your location and forget all bad things back home). Nothing reminds you of how important your family is until your travelling.

So I have recently bought my return ticket for a couple days before thanksgiving, November 25th. And I can't wait to see my family and my new born nephew! And then I get to go see my close friends in Cleveland where I'll be living for the spring while working at Aubreys to fill my completely empty wallet.

A long time coming

It's been a month since my last blog post, and I have learned that the more time that has passed by the easier it is to procrastinate my blog. Hopefully my updates and instagrams have meanwhile sufficed. My blog app has successfully deleted my repeated attempts to finish editing this post. so, else I never post again, I'm just going to claim defeat and post this with subpar spelling and flow. 

Week 1-3: Normandy

Peter and I arrived at our second workaway on September first. After arriving to the property we met the family and saw the property. Beginning with first impressions, I knew I was going to like our hosts Alex and Ed. Having a newly finished apartment to ourselves next to main house was also a plus. I've met and ears stories of workawayers arriving at location in terrible conditioned and given a seed-only diet for their duration. We have had two workaways that are quiet the opposite(mainly due to our homework when evaluating possible hosts). The house in Normandy was on a gorgeous piece of farm land, and our food was amazing. With a three course dinner almost every night, I had fresh fish, muscles, goat cheese salad, rooster, ratatouille, pastas, French pastries, tarts, crapes, and more. I was spoiled rotten. 

The house and barn

Picture from our apartments back door

But the work was arduous, albeit fair. Five hours a day of cleaning horse stables and yard work.

Meanwhile we used the workaway as a headquarters to see the rest of Normandy. Both American landing beeches, Bayeux, and St Michel just to name a few. 

Omaha beach memorial

Bayeux tapestry. Needless to say I took my time going throught twice

St michel

Paris

I was sad to say bye to Normandy, but thrilled for our week in Paris. And for good reasons! Peter and I were meeting up with three of our really good friends from America: Caitlin (who is aupairing for a year in Paris) and Lance & Melissa (siblings traveling Ireland together) we rented a nice apartment in downtown Paris (Montmartre area) for only $23 a night per person, cheaper than any low quality hostel, thanks to airbnb.com which is a fantastic website for cheap quality accommodations. 

Anyway, the five of us had an amazing week in Paris. We saw the Louvre, Versailles, had cheese and wine while watching the Eiffel Tower light up, and so much more. Hopefully we will see Lance again when we come up to the UK in November. 

Favorite pieces of the louvre

Again

Chapter 4: Plan B

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Barcelona, Lyon, Croatian, & Lyon(again)

Traveling require flexibility. 10 days ago I thought I was going to spend this past week in Barcelona. Two days before leaving our first workaway in Lherm, however, we changed our plans. Caught up in a moment of adventure Peter bought a plane ticket to Norway, and I bought a plane ticket to Croatia. 

Leaving Lherm was sad. I fell in love with that small village and beautiful house. My plane was departing from Lyon, France which despite its relative proximity was a $100 train ride from Lherm. I refused to pay more for my train to Lyon than my flight to Croatia(which was $70 thanks to easyjet.com). So, I decided to try another form of transportation, Internet carpooling. Sites like the French covoirturage.fr are very popular in Europe and connect drivers who are going from one city to another with passengers who have the same itinerary and are willing to pay a small fee for gas. With the help of my host I was able to schedule two cars from my village to Lyon. I met other passengers from all over the world on the way and was dropped off at the front door of my couchsurfing host in Lyon for only $30. Boom baby!

My first night in Lyon was grand! I had absolutely no expectations for the city but it quickly became my favorite city in France. My hosts were amazing people. After arriving Seb put me on a bike and we rode through historical Lyon before meeting his lovely girlfriend for a drink on a boat floating on the Rhone river. I wish I brought my camera that night!!

The Rhone River

It was an amazing night before an even more amazing adventure to Croatia.

PSYCHE!!! I missed my flight. That's right. I got lost in the Lyon metro and didn't make it in time. No refunds, and no where to go. 

Cinque Terre 

And so began my most difficult day so far. After pouting in a dark corner of the train station at 7am and sending distressed texts back home I got my act together and decided I needed to figure out a plan B. I couldn't stay in Lyon all week while my travel buddy was having a blast in Norway. I quickly found the closest McDonalds, a travelers sanctuary because of its free wifi and bathrooms, sprawled a map on a table and began researching options. With the great advice of my mom I decided to activate my euro pass a week earlier than I originally planned and go anywhere I could. It took all day of bickering with the train station to finally nail down my Plan B. That night Seb, thanks the Lord, welcomed me back in his house and the next morning I made a train to Italy. 14 hours later I arrived in Cinque Terre. 

One of the five villages of Cinque Terre

Right outside my hostel overlooking the Mediterranean.

Did I mention it was raining in Croatia?

It was the most beautiful place I've seen on this trip yet. The land is named after its five small villages nestled along the cliffs of the Mediterranean and linked by hiking trails rated as some if the best costal hiking in the world. I hiked three of them,and kayaked to the other two! Luckily, I also found an amazing hostel (ostello de cornigula) for four nights with a room full of great Aussies (except for the one who had night terrors and yelled in his sleep while kicking his bed frame to the ground). I made many friends that week who I wish I could bring with me on the rest of my trip. That last night my five new friends and I sat on the docks drinking a few beers and talking for hours. It was my favorite moment yet.

Maybe not the best quality photo, but a quality moment for sure. Thanks Matt Chris and Andrew, 'twas fun!

Finally, although i really thought about staying one more night, I had to leave Italy to get back to my next workaway in Normandy. I have only just arrived and will tell you how it is in my next blog post later in the week!

Traveler tips:

*use European carpooling websites. Might be more expensive than hitch hiking, but not much and at least you have the choice of your driver.

*skyscanner is an amazing app that'll search even the discount flights. For destination you can put in "everywhere" and see where you can go that week! (Thanks Maria!)

*rick Steve's and Nomadic Matt are the two best bloggers out there for tips on how to travel Europe. I'd never of for to cinque terra without them. 

*hostelworlds is a quality app when searching for a last minute bed in Europe cheap.

*couchsurfing once again proves itself as the best way to travel. Thanks Seb!!

Chapter 3: Lherm, France: "Center of the World"

Arriving in Lherm

After 40 hours of travel, we finally arrived at the Cahors train station a little before midnight. Walking through the terminal we began looking around for our host. Like any homestay system, the first moments of meeting your host is like an awkward adoption scenario. I began to nervously look at each person around me as my possible host for three weeks, including the very raggedy and sketchy looking lady peering around from a dark corner. After everyone else seemed to have found their loved ones at the terminal but us and the eerie woman, I was convinced we were going home with Mrs. Bellatrix Lestrange. Then Fiona, our host, turned the corner and welcomed us to Cahors! A charming woman, Fiona explained to us about the basics of her house on the half hour car ride there. When we arrived we were blown away by her beautiful property which is situated on a hill overlooking rolling plains of France. That night, despite not having slept for two days, Peter and I joined Fiona on the patio for a glass of wine and talked for a couple hours while watching a lightning show in the distance. From that moment the hospitality has yet to cease.

Getting ready for lunch at Fiona's!

I hated cats - until these two came along.

Us with Fiona

About once a week, when the gites are empty,
we get to swim in the pool!

The village, just a short walk away, is equally as amazing. Lherm is incredibly small with a population of only 300 and a village center consisting of one shop and one bar. Nevertheless, the place is booming. They have had Shakespeare plays, operas, and weekly village festivals! Lherm apparently discovered 60's and 70's American music and haven't left it sinec. I've done the congo line to Cotten Eye Joe, and danced the YMCA with a town of people that apparently can't spell it out.

Then there is the rich and famous of Lherm. Many of the movers and shakers of Lherm aren't french at all, but are apart of an apparently large group of British and Dutch people who have moved or retired here. Lherm, for all its size, is very international. Even the bartender here, and our neighbor and friend, is from Spain. One of these British expats was explaining just how international Lherm is to me and ended her statement by repeating that Lherm "really is the center of the world." I chuckled and then realized that she was completely serious. She might be a little wrong, but her statement does hold some truth in it: Lherm is bumping, and Lherm is international.

The village of  Lherm!!

The French body surfing line

Workawaying

I am already such a believe of the workaway.info program. In exchange for staying and eating at Fiona's, we provide 25 hours a week of work. Nothing has been overbearing, but it is definitely fair. Since I've been here I have cooked, mopped, trimmed hedges, cleaned chicken coops, split wood, server tables, babysat, and much more. We have also met other workawayers. You do hear the rare story of a terrible host who calls their workawayers "slaveaways", but the workaway community is for the most part extraordinarily kind, and if it ever breaches some type of trust level you can always leave. If you ever want to travel, please look at workaway.info!!

Cooking dinner for the gites

Cut all this wood in one morning.

Current Status and Future Plans
Financially I am doing fantastic. Believe it or not, I have made more money than I've spent while in Europe so far. Here are some tips if you ever go traveling.

•  If your in a village for more than a week, meet locals and offer to do any yard work or whatever for some basic payment.
•  Rural areas are cheap, and you need to penny pinch in cities. Find a corner grocery store and buy some nuetalla and bread and get some water out of a tap. If its more your style, wine in France is cheaper than water (there really are bottle for 2-3 euros). 
• Hitchhike if its common in your country! We succesfully hitchhiked about an hour away from home and made two great friends out of it. Be safe though, don't get in the car if you don't want to, and be with someone. I met a girl who hitchhiked from London to Paris in a day between five cars.
• Network network network! I never expected this skill to be so handy in Europe. From networking with locals and people vacationing here we have made many friends and already have friends to stay with in northern France and England. One family might be bringing us to Stonehenge, the Shakespeare's Globe, and  "Downtown Abbey."

We are traveling a lot around continental Europe in the next 2 months and so have bought a eurorail ticket for 600 dollars. We may of been able to pull it off cheaper, but I don't think I was ready for too much unknown. Still that ticket will get me from Barcelona ->Normandy ->Paris -> Berlin -> Prague -> Vienna -> Budapest -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> UK border. 

We leave this workaway on the 26th and will be visiting Barcelona for a week before going to our next workaway in Normandy!

Outside Cahors

Chapter 2: Chicago/Paris

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing -Benjamin Franklin 

You ever have that paradoxical feeling that the day went by both in the blink of an eye yet also felt like weeks? That's today. Of course by today I also mean yesterday, international flying always makes two days feel like one day with its two hour night fall magic trick.  Or maybe it's the not showering, changing, or getting a proper rest...

Anyway, I've arrived in Europe!! Yesterday morning I woke at 3:30am to catch my 6am flight to Chicago. Now, anyone who could score a C- or higher on a Kevin trivia test would know flying is my worst fear. I would NEVER do it if traveling wasn't one of my favorite things. This time I had a solution...drugs...and lots of them. Don't worry, the Xanax was prescribed to me. It did the trick. I remember neither of my flights, other than my brief annoyance that the international flight didn't have personalized seat TVs. As if I could of even tried watching.

CHICAGO

What I do remember is our ten and a half hour layover. Now, if that sounds awful to you, your wrong. Long layovers are the best because you can go explore the city and come back when your done. After a thirty minute train into Chicago we saw the bean, Michigan avenue, Holy Name Cathedral, and a lot of random attractions. Here's some imagery of Chicago so that those who don't read this blog but instead just scan for informative pictures feel included:



This is holy name cathedral. It's interior is gorgeous, the spartan
external notwithstanding. Depicted is a man approaching the alter
 after prostrating himself(a word I so often mix up with prostate...)

 

The Water Tower. i did a paper on this tower in third grade.
 I think the paper had to be at least 50 word minimum on how it
 was the only building that survived the Great Chicago Fire. If i
were to write it again id probably point out that its a freaking tower.
My mom brought me here for a field trip. Thanks mom, really.

 

Peter and I on a random elevator...lost. 

Lets see Instagram create a filter like this.

PARIS!!!

Ok, you get the point. Fast forward 8 hours and two Xanax's later and we arrived in Paris. Since we were ahead of schedule for our train we got to see tons of sights even though we will be coming back in three weeks. It really is GORGEOUS. Sure it's touristy, but there's a reason. Everywhere you look is a textbook worth of history and picturesque enough to qualify to be a national geographic front cover. We left the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph for later but saw the exterior of Notre-Dame, the Louvre, and many other things. 

Charlemagne! This guy is a stud in my book!
(And most history books) #jaredweilfaert

 

You can't begin to capture the detail of this church
 in a picture. So I'll post two...

 

Two pictures is still not good enough...

 

Ok I give up. Notre-Dame beautiful. Just go Google search it
if you don't believe me.

 

The Louvre. It's this fancy but in 360.

 

French cuisine...on budget

SOUTHBOUND TRAIN 

Now we are on our 6 hour train to southern France to meet oh first workaway where we will be for 3 weeks. The scene outside the window is of beautiful French countryside. First thing I've noticed, at least on this train, is no one talks. This is a bummer since in North Africa it was the best place to meet people and practice the language. For example, I boarded at the same time as a guy my age who is now sitting across from me. While we have snickered together at situations occurring around us, he still just nodded at my hello. Well, maybe everyone in France takes Xanax for trains not planes...

Hopefully the workaway we arrive at in a couple hours is different! It's been a long 40 hours since I stepped out my front door in Roswell, GA.

We both know your not sleeping, now be my
friend and start teaching me French!

Chapter 1: Departure

Good-Byes

“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.” -Oscar Wilde 

My classroom, office, & home

This has been a week of good byes. There was something terribly nostalgic about leaving Cleveland this time. I felt like I was loosing a sense of ownership of the area. I could, and will, return, but it won't be the same. Not only is the campus not meant for me anymore, but neither is its playground. The memories from places like the Blue Hole, Benton Falls, "the cliffs", "the quarry", Chilhowie, etc. seem to be sifting threw my fingers only to become the instagram photos of incoming freshmen. Guess you just have to shrug and hope the good memories continue on your next journey.

Happy birthday/going away party for ME!

It was most difficult to say bye to these guys.
I couldn't of asked for better roommates this past summer. The fun crazy nights, the 12 hours TV comas of The Office, pool days, and so much more. These guys were awesome, and they make Cleveland fun enough to almost ditch my plans for Europe.

Ben, Tom, Devin, and Tyler, I'll miss you!

Packing!!

Tomorrow I fly out at 6am. Forty hours later I'll be in a bed in the SouthWest of France

Weather for week 1

My Favorite Items packed:

1. Xanax- good bye flight phobia!
2. Exofficio boxers: "17 Countries. 6 Weeks. And one pair of underwear. Okay, maybe two"    Exofficio is, as far as I'm considered, the best travel clothes, especially for hot locations. If they got me threw the Sahara, they can get me threw France.
3. Greek Bible- Ok, this might not be for everyone's packing list, but its going to keep my mind sharp.

My immediate fears:

1. Cats - But seriously, why do Europe loves them? Guess I'll be bringing allergy medicine...
2. Planes - Have you seen that clip in Brides Maids where the main character is drunk on a plane and freaks out? That's me sober on a plane. Anyone that knows me knows this is my largest fears. I have weakly nightmares of plane crashes. Hopefully the Xanax I just got work!
3. Foot injuries - Lets not go threw that again.....

Everything I'm bringing with me

 Packing List: 1 collared shirt, 1 pair of jeans (They may be heavy and not easily dried, but I wear them a lot. A good alternative can be khaki pants.), 1 pair of zip off pants, 1 pair of basketball shorts, 1 bathing suit, 4 T-shirts, 1 long-sleeve T-shirt, 1 pair of chachos, 1 pair of sneakers, 5 pairs of socks(preferably trail socks), 7 pairs of boxer shorts (preferably Exofficio boxers), 1 raincoat, 1 northface jacket, 1 mini umbrella, 1 toothbrush, 1 tube of toothpaste, 1 razor, 1 package of dental floss, 1 bar of soap, Comb, mini Deodorant, Phone, First-aid kit, Universal power converter (must have for everyone), Zip-top bags, Plastic bags, 1 Bible, 1 Journal, 1 Latin book,  1 wristwatch, Passport, Copies of Passport/credit cards, Hairband - for when my hair gets long, 100 Euros, Itinerary,  Ipod, Ipod arm holder, headphones, day bag, reversible belt, water bottle, headlamp, small reading light, rain cover for bag, earplugs, portable speakers, sleeping bag.

Finally I want to thank three people who have been especially helpful in my preparation:
Alan White, who was willing to let me borrow any of his backpacking gear.
Jared Johnson, for his French notes and special gifts for the trip.
And String, for his encouragement and gifts.
Thank yall so much!!

Launch Video

Nothing makes you more self-conscious then recording a video of yourself. It's like that awkward moment when you listen to your own phone's voicemail.

Nevertheless, I wanted to post a launch video for this blog! Here it goes!

(Thank you Zach Green for this idea)

Also, I have some links to show you of my first workaway:
Workaway Ad
The family company's website


If you didn't read about my plan, read the first post below!

Becoming Literate

"The world is like a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." -St. Augustine
 (Actually this quote is misattributed to him thanks to John Wade in the 1800s. Augustine rarely traveled himself. But as I require a cool title we're going to use it nevertheless.)

Six months ago I decided that I needed a break before graduate school - and I wasn't going to spend it developing ulcers from serving tables. It needed to be good! And thus I landed on the ideal post-grad gap year plan: European backpacking. I texted my two closest friends to inform that about my decision. Thankfully, one of them responded with a "HECK YEAH!!! I'M COMING" The other, however, said something about needed to find a job. Have fun with your "real life" Sam.

On August 1st, Peter and I are flying out of Atlanta and arriving in Paris 21 hours later. Now I need to confess something: I am woefully unprepared for this trip financially, in fact we both are. If I told you how little money we had you'd probably stop me from getting on my one-way flight. Of course I didn't plan that part, my idea was to have a treasure chest of riches to bring with me, but a few bills, weddings, dinners, and late night taco bell runs later and it seems to nearly all be gone. Yet that is half the story! This blog isn't just about me posting a picture of myself under the Eiffel tower(which will happen), nor is it just about me learning the language and culture of my hosts(which will also happen), it's also an attempt to travel dirt cheap around the most expensive place in the world. This blog will either be a great demonstration on how to do such, or a hilarious story of its failed attempt....lets hope for the former.

ATTACK PLAN

Now more about the attack plan. As I said we have one-way tickets. We plan on flying back sometime around December, but we will decide that while on ground. Landing in Paris we will stay in France for 7 weeks, Germany for four, and Italy for a one. Americans are only allowed in the "Schengen Zone" for only 90 days without an extended visa, so we will have to be in either Eastern Europe or the British Isles/Ireland by Novemberish. The corner stone of our plan is workaway.info, a website where small businesses, farms, and family's who need volunteer help give you free food and housing in exchange for 25 hours of work a week. You can even make a joint account, like ours, since lots of people travel in pairs. Through this program we will be helping with a barn conversion project outside Bordeaux, taking care of a families horses and yard work in Normandy, working at a gorgeous hotel in Germany and more! Because of this we will be spending more time with locals in the rural areas instead of tourists in the cities. For short visits in cities we will be using one of the modern world's greatest inventions, couchsurfing(give me a reference)! Traveling will still cost, but between the extensive Eurorail, the less well known but even cheaper Euroline busses ($50 from Paris to Rome!?), and hitchhiking, we should still be able to get to all our destinations.

I am obviously excited, I am attempting to live out the stereotypical young adult backpacking adventure. I am also cautiously nervous of course. I have traveled extensively before, and I remember the hard times, physically and emotionally. Yet, every time it has been worth it. I can't wait to go through these difficult times in order to experience the stories that are worth such hardships. And any followers I have of this blog will learn about both the difficulties I face, the adventures I find, and the moments of achievement I experience.