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.