Slacking

I never know what to write in this thing so I usually put it off for a few days then feel guilty enough to finally sit down and try. So here I am guilted into it again.

I'm in London staying with a friend I met in Paris. I've been here since Monday and will be here until next Monday when I fly to Iceland. What a generous guy!

I've been living the life of a London local and it is expensive.  I don't think in could live here permanently because of the insane rent but since I'm living on a couch for a week, it's great!

Speaking of rent, I believe my debt house idea will finally take shape. For those unfamiliar, which is probably everyone, I've been talking to some of my friends and we realized a huge burden on them all is debt, mostly of the student loan variety. What I came up with was to start shared living houses and using the money saved to go toward paying it off faster.  Not only would rent be cheaper but also a lot of commonly used items would be split, such as a grill.

Ideally it'd be a large 4 bedroom house which can be found for as low as 1200 a month. Since there are couples interested, we could have up to 6 people living there making rent 200 a month. With the right group and a common interest (climbing), it'd be a great experience. And though we would all be climbers, we'd have incredible diversity otherwise and I think it'd improve our lives in many ways. We'd always have motivated training partners and would end up building a mini training wall for sure.

Anyway, the first iteration would be just 3 people. Hopefully as more people become interested, a larger debt house will be created.

Istanbul

I flew from Bucharest to Istanbul this morning. I had a 10am flight so I left the hostel early; around 7am. Because it was so early on a Sunday, there weren't any bus ticket windows open. Luckily I had gotten one from a friend the night before. Or so I thought.

When I got on the bus, it wouldn't scan. Since I had no other option, i decided to risk it and stay on. Sure enough, next stop there's a cop checking tickets. I tried playing dumb but they dinged me with a 50 lei fine, which really is only $13 or so. I also tried to pretend I didn't have the cash to cover and offered 20 lei. They took my passport and were going to make it 150 lei if I didn't pay so I did. Terrible way to end a great city.

Another thing, the city of Bucharest decided to have a huge party last night for some reason. I didn't get to bed until 2. Woke up at 630 for my flight. I'm spending tonight in the airport. Needless to say I look like hell. I'll also wear the same clothes for 3 straight days.

Today in Istanbul, I arrived at around 11. And before I go any further, I want to say airlines in Europe treat passengers like royalty. On my 1 hour flight, I got a meal (that I think had some sort of raw meat, ate it anyway), drinks, and a newspaper. I got to the airport in Istanbul, stashed my luggage, and wandered around the city for the afternoon.

Istanbul is huge. I never realized it's bigger than NYC. The metro system is super modern but the city had pockets that haven't aged well. In 20 years, it will be without a doubt a cutting edge city but for now, its about half way there.

I got lost walking around this massive city and ate delicious food. Turkish food is slowly becoming my favorite. And now here I am in Istanbul airport. Flight leaves in 10 hours to London and I still don't have a place to crash. I'll worry about that when I get there. For now, I just want a quiet corner to sleep.

Travelers curse

The more you travel, the more numerous and profoundly varied the relationships you will have. But the more people you meet, the more diffused your time is with any of them. Since all these people can't travel with you, it becomes more and more difficult to cultivate long term relationships the more you travel. Yet you keep traveling, and keep meeting amazing people, so it feels fulfilling, but eventually, you miss them all, and many have all but forgotten who you are. And then you make up for it by staying put somewhere long enough to develop roots and cultivate stronger relationships, but these people will never know what you know or see what you've seen, and you will always feel a tinge of loneliness, and you will want to tell your stories just a little bit more than they will want to hear them. The reason this is part of the Curse is that it gets worse the more you travel, yet travel seems to be a cure for a while.

Bucharest, and a story i forgot

So I forgot to mention something that happened in Paris last week. My friend Wendy and I were walking the street sort of late and a bit outside Paris. We left the metro station and found ourselves on an empty street. There was a group of about 6 so we were really outnumbered. They started throwing rocks and possibly bottles. Not sure but I know the rocks were big and one came really close to hitting us. We ducked into a parking lot and I found a pipe I could use if necessary but luckily they didn't follow us into the lot. This was the only time so far I felt a bit in danger.

And Bucharest!  The food is cheap, beer is cheap, transportation is cheap, and the hostel is $12 a night. The hostel I'm staying at is sort if a meditation center. They only host 12 people at a time so everyone becomes instant friends. The owner has done meditation retreats and has turned it into a very relaxing environment. It has been a great 4 or 5 days (not even sure how long I've been here) and I'm starting to figure out what's next for me.  I have some goals for the next 6 months that I'm excited about. Some include putting more effort into learning French, meditating daily, and climbing the Grand Wall in Squamish this August.

My favorite Bucharest moment so far has been at the Turkish restaurant I've been frequenting. The chef fired up a cigarette as he was prepared my meal. I thought it was a refreshing attitude and really represents the general attitude of everyone here. That would never fly in the states. There would probably be a lawsuit. I could get used to this lifestyle.

Warsaw poland

Spent half a day in Warsaw Poland yesterday then slept on a bench in the airport. I think it's 6am here in warsaw. Flying to Bucharest Romania in 5 hours on about 3 hours of sleep. I made sure to load up with absinthe and Cuban cigars before leaving.

Last full day in Paris

I have decided to leave Paris tomorrow because the weather continues to be ugly and the forecast is calling for rain tomorrow and Sunday. Since climbing is pretty much out of the question for a while, I booked a flight to Bucharest Romania with a 20 hour layover in Warsaw Poland. I'll check out Warsaw for a bit and then sleep in the airport until my flight to Bucharest. The hostel I found in Bucharest is only 8€ a night which is much better than western Europe.

My last few days in Paris have been fantastic despite the weather. Wednesday night I stayed with my friend Igor in his flat, sleeping on the floor and last night I came back to the hostel where I met even more great folks including a guy from Iraq.  I've also met Jay who is originally from India but lives in and is CEO of a company in Chattanooga. He said he hasn't taken a vacation in 19 years and is in Paris for business but happened to stay in the hostel and is sharing a room with me. I'm not letting him work today and we are going to see all the touristy areas of Paris. He's also seriously considering finally taking a journey much like mine where he'd buy a ticket somewhere and just make the rest up as he goes. We plan on keeping in touch so I'm hoping he does it.

Translation Request

So I have left a little journal in the common area of the hostel in Paris. I hadn't touched it in 7 days and over that time, it's been moved, the pen has been taken twice, the sign has disappeared and a new one created, and it has moved positions multiple times but overall it's still in one piece. However, today I got an entry in Portuguese and I'd love to know what exactly it says so if anyone feels like translating, that would be great!

Rain and Snow

It rained yesterday and turned to snow in the evening. I don't have any snow clothing so I'll be staying inside for the day. The Brazillians in the hostel are going crazy because they've never seen snow before. Hopefully I can get some more pictures later with no tourists in the shot. Yesterday was perfect with the rain.

Life is self discovery

I've been living in Paris now for a week and loving it. I'm torn on whether I want to stay in the hostel or move in with Igor, staying on his floor. Igor would allow me a place to sleep for free but I'd miss the opportunity of meeting all the folks I'm meeting.

I've had people from 7 or 8 different countries in my room over the course of the week. I had a chap from Finland in Paris for a dance festival. I've had foreign exchange students on break from Australia, Canada, and the United States. I've had an older gentleman who lives in Paris mistakenly rent out his apartment on a night he would be in town so rather than remove the tenant, he stayed in the hostel.

 The chap from Finland though has made the most lasting impression thus far. He taught me about his silent retreats he does for up to 10 days at a time. No talking and no communication with the outside world.

We've been trying it in our room for an hour at a time, giving me the chance to figure out why exactly I'm doing something like this. I don't even have an answer. I just thought it was a necessary step in my progression. It's something I'll have for the rest of my life. I've already made life long friends along the way who plan on visiting the United States some day and I will surely be there when they do. I've experienced so many new things that you read about but you really don't understand until you're there. You can look at as many pictures of the Eiffel Tower as you want but it's not half the experience of standing below it looking up. Hearing the crowd of people all talking in different languages.  Eating a baguette and drinking wine in the grass in front of it.

Once this is over, I'll have so many more things to offer from knowledge of the world to little tricks such as meditation techniques. And I've made more progression in self discovery in 2 weeks than I have the prior year. I'll never be completely satisfied but at this point I'm pretty close. I have short term goals, long term goals, fulfilling hobbies, fulfilling relationships and more experiences than I ever though I'd have. This whole experience will only make the next one that much easier. The next time I want to put myself out there and be vulnerable, I won't think twice.

I've also realized your choices in life are not live the young life, travel and then settle down and have kids VS settle down and have kids and never do any self discovery.  Life does not end with family life. I am 26, and I have traveled and self discovered, and if I settle down now, and have a family, I will NOT stop traveling, and discovering myself, and having fun. Things are not black and white.

Anyway, I'm still living in Paris and traveling south to Fontainebleau every day there's good weather. Today is rain so I'll bum around Paris taking photos. I have a possible trip to Morocco on the 18th, definitely going to Scotland on the 29th and Iceland on April 1. I'll try to post more pictures but it's just not the same as being here.

The magical forest of Fontainebleau

I made my first trip to the climbing mecca of Fontainebleau on Thursday and was not disappointed. It's heaven. The climbing is so famous, the train station has a map to all the nearest areas. I only got to climb for 2 hours but immediately booked more nights in Paris because it's only 45 minutes away.

On the way back, I realized I didn't have my return but luckily they did not check tickets that trip. It was the longest 45 minutes of my life. Not sure what the fine would be but probably good that I didn't find out.

Today, it's raining so Bleau was out of the question. Hoping the weather turns for the better next week.

Louvre

Last night in London and 2 more in Brussels

My last night in London was quite memorable. I had met Corrie and Jakub on Thursday and they were nice enough to give me a place to sleep the following night.

I met them at their place at 6 Friday night and began the night.

Our first stop was visiting one of their friends who was working as a bartender. We didn't stay long but the highlight of that was her splitting our tab and adding it to other tabs in the bar saying they are too drunk to notice.

Our next stop was Troy 22 which was one of the coolest bars I've ever been to! We arrived around 10 and were there far past the final metro train. The drinks were cheap and the music was fantastic, with them playing nothing but classic rock fro, Queen to David Bowie. Pretty sure everyone was on the tables dancing at one point. Next time in london, I'll definitely be going back.

I think we left around 2:30 and luckily i was with some locals because i got one of their metro cards and was able to take the night bus home. I think we arrived back at the flat around 4am.

The next day consisted of a lot of sleeping and Jakub cooking us an amazing Polish feast. I caught a bus then to brussels at 8pm on Saturday and arrived in Brussels at 6am Sunday morning. 

Since I couldn't check in to my hostel until afternoon and i hadn't slept on the bus, I slept for the morning in a starbucks at the train station. The employees must have felt bad for me because they let me lay there for 6 hours.

I had some awesome folks in the hostel with me who told me belgian beer was so strong I wouldn't be able to have more than 2 without being wasted. Challenge accepted! We went out that night and while they all had 1 a piece, I had 4, earning the nickname Superheavyweight. The other highlight of Brussels was meeting Adi from India and learning of his trekking qdventure he's doing in Morocco later in the month. Hopefully we'll meet again in Morocco if I can get a flight that same day.

I left Brussels yesterdqy and am in Paris right now. I have a hostel for 3 nights and hope to couchsurf in Fontainebleau, France this upcoming weekend with a couple living there who also offered to take me climbing.

I'm also hoping to have a couch next week in Paris and will split my time between Paris and climbing in Fontainebleau since it's only an hour south by train. Life is good.

London by Vespa

Last night I met with a couchsurfing crew at a pool hall to hang out for the night. All those late night pool sessions finally paid off as I hustled everyone in the group. I was one of two Americans in the group that included folks from Finland, Poland, Australia, Germany, and Italy.

It was also worth going to because now I have a place to stay with Corrie and Jakub, one of the couples in attendance. I won't have to sleep in a train station tonight since my hostel was booked for tonight.

The other exciting and terrifying event was my 6 mile ride back to my hostel on a Vespa driven by the Italian. He apparently doe not believe in lanes and was passing in bus lanes, bike lanes, and opposing traffic lanes. In had to take him up on the offer though because, having been to Italy and seeing them drive, I knew it would be an adventure.

So far London has been great and I might end up staying longer than expected.