See other entries regarding my first EuroTrip at http://neevita.net/tag/travel

I’ve been back state side, for a week or so now. I took my vacation hair out on Thursday, which felt like a final nail in the pretty coffin for my first jaunt through parts of Europe. I brought a few things with me from the trip, ideas about life, and further understanding of what it is I value in my human experiences.

One of those things is food. I want more freshly prepared food in my life. A large portion of my meals come out of clif bar wrappers and the like. When I do cook, I’ve rarely eaten a meal at the time I’ve prepared it. Usually I cook for the week and refrigerate. I’m really just done with that.

Another is time. I want more time for me between sessions, commitments and projects. Since 2007, I’ve been excessively busy. It started when going to school and working full time and just never stopped, until now. I want time to ride my bike in the sun to my office. I want time to stop and take pictures of the interesting things I see or jot something down in a journal. Since coming back I’ve reached for my camera a few times, and my journal as well, to find they are not there. I didn’t carry these things before, but will carry them now.

From the moment I touched down in Seattle, I went on an elimination diet. Which sounds awful I know, but actually it’s rather enjoyable to only eat good food. I’m making a concerted effort to create the time, space and reward to improve my diet and take more care for myself now that I’m back home, and to figure out just how much my diet is related to my ailments.

They say that your first international experience is a big one, and I agree with that. This trip opened a lot of doors for me in many ways. I’m already thinking about where I would like to go in the world next, based on my likes and dislikes during my trip. I have very little desire to return to France or England. I feel fortunate to have visited, and I also don’t need to do it again for pleasure.

I will return to Holland at some point, and I am currently learning Dutch in some of the spare time I am slowly carving open for myself in my life. It’s an awesome language and it sounds awesome coming out of my mouth, too. I tried to learn French first, because I have a friend who speaks and can practice with me, but I really just didn’t like it. So if you know Dutch and want to practice once I get a little better, hit me up!

Though I was generally indifferent to the city itself and I think the South of France is overrated based on my experience there, I really enjoyed the beach in Nice. This is interesting considering I have historically been avoidant of beaches and large bodies of water, and generally uncomfortable with the idea of weird shit living in the oceans. It was nice to visit a clean, clear water beach that didn’t smell like dead marine life. Majestic really. I guess it makes a difference if I can SEE the stuff in the water..

I’d like to visit Spain and Italy at some point. The Cinque Terre specifically. However, I’d like to visit someplace other than Europe next time around. I’d been thinking perhaps Bermuda, since it’s beachy and clear and clean(ish) and has less crime than Jamaica does. Upon further reflection, though, I really think I’ll be visiting Thailand next.

It was my intent to go to Thailand to teach English this year, however financially that simply hasn’t been feasible and is even less so after additional expense in changing Europlans due to the volcano. The key thing though is that I’ve been drawn to Thailand for multiple reasons over the course of time, including my work, just as I’d been drawn to Holland at various times throughout my life.

The fluke stay I had in Amsterdam was by far the most enjoyable part of my trip and the woo in me says that’s probably somewhat connected to having been drawn to it in the first place. Having seen a little bit of the world and enjoying a growing appreciation for beaches, as well as requiring a much less expensive destination than the .eu next time, Thailand is a bit of a no brainer really.

Another thing I learned on this trip is a matter of welcome and chemistry. 3 days is the key amount of time I’d like to plan to stay in any one household with people I don’t know very well; Just enough time to get past the logistics and pleasantries and see if you actually jive with someone. In future travels, my rule of thumb will be a short stay with the potential for staying longer, rather than the other way around.

Also; After watching Twilight and New Moon during down time in Europe, I’m excited about Eclipse. I stand by my extremely rare guilty pleasure and I don’t care what no one’s got to say about it!

When I first began planning my trip to Europe, I had a few people ask me why in the world I was going to Bristol rather than London or something. My answer was that it was the closest airport to the people who were putting me up the majority of my stay. Now that I’ve spent a little time here, I have some things to add to that.

Bristol is a pretty damn cool city. Honestly, I avoided planning to go places like Paris and London mainly due to their popularity and expense. I didn’t come here to be a tourist, I came here to see the world and facilitate personal growth by mainly being in another place and another culture. The touristy bits have been a fun part of the trip but not my main motivation.

The music culture is rich here, with Massive Attack and Portishead both hailing from these parts. If that doesn’t indicate why someone might want to come here, I’m not sure what else to say about that.

Bristol is a city of street art, music, squatters, artists and young people. It mirrors Seattle in many of the meaningful ways, including being enviroconscious and seeming to attract good intentioned, progressive thinking people, and the weather.

My couchsurfing experiment here has been a great success. Leila, Lucy and Louise are all very cool laid back girls and the house has tons of room. The first day I came here they had a small party and made more food than a heard of elephants could eat, which we’ve all been working at since. I had a lot of fun meeting some new people who were all really entertained by my story and getting strandedhad interesting backgrounds and fun stuff going on. Nice group.

Later in the evening, a few of us decided to hit a pub for a pint. We went to where the clubbers go to work off their long weekends – a place called The Pipe and Slippers. Tall glasses, lots of people, mixed music, indoor-outdoor, worked for me. A Jamaican guy gave me a dready thumbs up, and there was much hat swapping. After closing the place down, we decided to find another rather than go home.

Turned out we ended up at basically a rave, which really isn’t my thing any more. The kids in Bristol take their partying seriously. I hung out for an hour or so and then made my way back to the house.

My schedule in Seattle has been ridiculously full since Jan of 2007 when I started school. That is changing as of this trip. It’s been productive and a good change of pace to have a lot going on lately, and now I want time to meander places again. Not to mention more than one day off a month.

Today I borrowed Leilas second bike and biked around Bristol, to the city center, along the harbor, Clifton and the University. It was enjoyable and another indication that I may in fact be a directional ninja. This evening Lou taught me the basics of playing cello, a life-long dream of mine, and I spent as much time as my hands would allow practicing by ear and playing badly. It’s a gorgeous instrument that I’ve always had an affinity for but never actually played. Tomorrow I plan to check out the thrift stores, the first I’ve seen since being across the pond, and maybe head over to Portishead since.. well, why not.

My trip is winding down into a fitting and satisfying conclusion. Many lessons have been learned, knowledge gained and people met. Feels like I’ve cracked something open almost, some kind of travel kinship thing. I’ve definitely met a lot of like-minded people and become more comfortable traveling, maneuvering foreign places, and most importantly, being by my self.

Today, between snacks and cups of tea, I took a slow easy walk along the Weston beach. The landscape is flat, simple and desert-like, with haze on the horizon and moist smooth sand that reminds me of fine brown sugar.

The beach itself provided few photo opportunities. Instead I got a few shots of some buildings, and artwork that was painted on the side. Now I am settling down for more tea and some movie watching before C&J return home for a pub lunch.

I am now in Britian, my original destination, with my friends Chris and Julie. They have a nice cozy home in Weston Super Mare near the beach, with a fish pond and a love spoon hanging in their kitchen. We celebrated my eventual arrival by eating crackers with brie and pâté, and drinking Rosé out on the porch. Before doing so I took a quick hobbly walk around to snap a few photos.

Trains and boats were rather seamless, even the side trip to get my tickets went well. I am a criminal in the UK already – dirty rail hopper is me! – and it’s a good thing I got away with it because I didn’t have any Pounds handy to pay for the trip anyway. Being in Europe gives me size anxiety about our money. Sheesh.

I barely remember the boat trip, which I ended up arriving rather early for due to my knee finally giving out on what was to be a long walk but ended up as a tram ride to Centraal. The neighborhood up there isn’t much for hanging out I found, so I just went down to Hoek Van Holland and got on my boat. Other than being impressed with the cabin, I did very little before I promptly got into bedclothes, jerked off and fell asleep.

Very mellow here, which my knee is grateful for, and I am looking forward to watching some movies and laying around a bit after the flurry of activity in Amsterdam. Still flying high on being in that place – Contemplting quite fiercely how I can enable myself to spend a chunk of time a year there. Really made an impression on me.

It looks like our trips to Nice and Monaco are on as of now. There are streaks of planefluff all over the sky from the flurry of air traffic now that the airports are open again. Rather interesting looking, actually. I would bet I won’t have any problem getting home, either. But I’m trying not to think about that too much right now. :)

On one of the many journeys through Vondelpark, Zoe and I went to a teahouse she enjoys frequenting. A spiritual center in the park with tea, cookies and buddahs. I had fresh, real mint tea – literally mint leaves in water – and I don’t think I’ll be going back to the alternative any time soon.

I’m wondering how much of an effect the air ban has had on my experience here. It’s so quiet and beautiful – usually there are planes flying constantly in the sky. Along with the ground being so flat, it’s like I’ve been transported in time or to a floating city in space. You can see nothing but sky on the horizon.

There isn’t even really a skyline of the city, all the buildings are about the same height and the city is so dense you can’t see much beyond them. This makes it very easy to get lost around here, too, which I did mildly a few times. I purposely only went out when there was plenty of daylight left so I wouldn’t have anything to get stressed over, so it worked out well. I can imagine if I had somewhere to be in a hurry it could be a bit of a problem.

On my last night in this city I went to Zuiver, a massive upper class spa just outside of Amsterdam. Had a nice bike ride to and from and spent quite a few hours in this gorgeous place. The air ban was still on while there – This was particularly lovely while being in the outdoor areas of the spa not to have any planes overhead.

Oh Amsterdam, how fortunate it was that we met. The culture, the architechture, the language and the quality of living seems exactly what my value system calls for in America and doesn’t receive. It seems almost like a universal pull brought me here and wants me to come back when I’m ready to really be home somewhere in the world.

I’m interested in how I respond to the other places I am going to be in over here. I sense much of the UK trip will be about Chris and Julie whereas much of my Holland trip was about Holland.

I will spend the next several hours on trains and in train stations, much to the relief of my increasingly injured right knee. I twisted it on one of the various tiny freakishly designed staircases in Amsterdam and continued to tweak it on other various tiny freakishly designed stairs throughout the trip. We may have to wait a bit to start our walking tours in Weston Super Mare. Walking to the ferry was extremely painful and challenging. Being made to sit for a while sounds really good.

Amsterdam is continuing to be lovely and fueling, even in the face of unideal travel circumstances and, frankly, a fair amount of troubling debt racking up.

My friends in England are invaluable resources in navigating this situation and continue to support and perform small miracles. I hear from most people that the rail and bus system in Europe is a breeze, but I think they must be talking about getting from somewhere other than here to somewhere other than where I need to be, because it’s sort of silly how many hoops there are to jump through in my experience thus far. But it looks like we have it figured out.

On Tuesday night, I tram to Centraal station, to train to Rotterdam station, to train to Hoek van Holland Haven. From there I take an overnight ferry to Harwich International, in which I will have my own cabin and bathroom! At Harwich I bus or train to Dovercourt station, so I can interact with the ticket machine there and get my tickets for Liverpool > Paddington > Bristol Temple meads > Weston-super-mare. I then bus back to Harwich International to catch the train I just bussed to another stop to get the tickets for. I may have as little as 6 minutes to do this. Insert manic laughter here.

In the meantime, through the magic of facebook, I’ve been united with another BUSM grad, who was in the day class the same season I was in the night. It’s been transforming to meet and spend time with her at this intense creation time in her life. I’d seen her around the school a little, but not really interacted with her back then. Her wisdom, insight and open heart are inspirational and I’m really happy for her and the good stuff she’s got going on. We’ve had some good talks, about life, the amazing power of travel, relationships, all kinds of things.

Zoe set me up with her charming, awesome, rusty bike which I rode all over the city yesterday. It turns out part of my impression here was skewed by residing in the richest neighborhood in Amsterdam for the first couple of days. I have now seen cleavage and some amusingly unsavory behavior, and haven’t even bothered to visit the Red Light District. Rad.

The locals I’ve talked with seem to find it somewhat stressful, while I’ve found biking in Amsterdam is a complete dream compared to Seattle. I took to traveling through the city on a bike like a pro, if I do say so. A tourist asked me directions (which I Was unable to give, but, you know.)! I really feel safe and comfortable here. Except for my ass. I’m saddle sore from riding on Zoe’s bike rack a few times when we traveled around together.

On my way around the city I checked out a monthly market that happens down Zoes street. Tons of merchants with all kinds of things at reasonable to downright cheap and completely inflated prices, lining the streets with tables. I splurged on a €1,00 bra that reminded me of the pretty awnings I’ve frequently adored on the buildings here. One of the straps promptly broke. Good thing I have a sewing machine at home!

I also checked out another Coffeeshop with the intention of sampling spacecake, and sample spacecake I did. It’s very potent and disarmingly tasty, I could see how one could overdo it rather easily and it doesn’t taste at all like weed. I was smart to eat about 1/4 of it. Just right.

It’s been awesome to stay with someone in their home here. Zoe set up a wonderful bed of couch cushions in the kitchen and it’s beautiful. She has a wonderful sitting window facing the street that I’ve enjoyed spending time in.

In addition to Zoe herself, I’ve been introduced to a few of her friends.

A group of us from all over the world (France, Iceland, Seattle, Portland, Amsterdam) went to Indian food together last night. Somehow during the course of that meal, I ended up being taught some Dutch. I’m now a machine for it and am attempting to read everything, particularly simple things like tea packaging.

I am, of course, awful – though my teachers are kind enough to say differently. It’s funny, I don’t “umm” when fumbling through Dutch words, I “auuh” with a very different sound. It’s sort of like being in a different audible gear, attempting to speak Dutch.

I’d been hoping to see an Amsterdam apartment inside, and I’ve gotten to see two! After dinner the group of us spent some time at Hans place drinking tea, listening to Hans play jazz on his piano and the ridiculous attempts I made at reading “Voor Jou”, a childrens book about giraffes in love. It’s the first book I’ve read since being here, though I’m carrying one. I am however consistently adding to my awesome little journal, often using the content as notes for these posts.

Today? Who knows. I haven’t decided yet – though I was just offered a personal bike tour. Maybe I’ll take him up on it! :)

I will be back to this cozy place. Mark that.

It is day 3 of Project EuroAsh in Amsterdam. I must say, though it is somewhat strange to be saying so given the circumstances, it’s about damn time I had a vacation like this. I’ve often mused about backpacking Europe and staying in hostels, but knew my limits in regards to how long I would want to travel that way. The universe gave me a taste of it and I’m grateful.

The night I stayed in the airport, they set up over 1000 cots for stranded passengers in the common areas. I stayed in one of the gate terminals, where it was easier to access computers and there were a lot less people around to potentially steal my stuff.

About 24 hours after landing in Amsterdam, I’d gone ahead and booked the min. 2 night weekend stay at a Hostel near museum square. I chose that one for the computers in the lobby and its vacinity to a grocery store. It was also the cheapest I found – yay!

I got settled after an enjoyable bus trip chatting with the driver and fairly quickly finding the hostel. The Dutch are really friendly and helpful when engaged with and I’m really thankful for that.

Things I noticed right away here were things like how flat it is, how modestly women dress and how short the buildings are. I’ve found it is very easy to get lost here without a skyline, but I have my wits and spirit (and a map) about me so it’s not been an issue, at least not yet.

I couldn’t have begged on my knees for better weather. My bunkmate, Jake, a rather charming Aussie, informed me that he’s brought the good weather. He also brought an EeePC, exactly the model I used to have, so I may even be able to upload my pictures off the cameras SD card soon!

I had forgotten how enjoyable it is to watch a big dog fetch a stick from water. Seeing it in Vondelpark, one of the places I’ve been hanging out a lot, reminded me of when we used to take Pecos to the lake when I was a kid.

I’ve had quite bit of trouble with my credit card and trying to get money for things like.. I dunno. Food. I spent most of yesterday walking, attempting to gather information. Like the fact that “See ID” on the back of a credit card is a huge no-go in Europe, for instance, and they use PIN numbers with cards rather than signatures. If I have a PIN assigned to my card, I have no idea what it is.

They also rarely offer cash back on purchases ’round these parts. So with all of those stars aligning, having difficulty at the currency exchange, and getting in after breakfast at the hostel, I went nearly the entire day without food. Turned out Bank of America still sucks, and blocked my card even though I informed them of my trip last week. Figures.

Once I was finally able to go shopping for food, it was like Christmas in April. I’ve found that many of the habits I’ve adopted since moving out of my wusbands house have prepped me for travel. Carrying a backpack with my essentials, keeping a tupperware and water bottle are all natural habits that have come in very handy these last few days.

Is it just me, or is the produce amazing here? Even the bruises on an apple simply taste like grape.

I stopped into a coffeeshop on the Overtoom today. Sorta had to, you know? I’d walked by it yesterday but wanted plenty of daylight to make my way back, and decided against it.

This morning, around 11am, I was sitting on a coin operated computer (awesome business plan), smoking hash and listening to Lady Gaga on the radio, in Amsterdam. I’ll cross that off my ‘must do before dying’ list now.

As for the little matter of my being stuck here: I’ve thankfully cultivated two leads, friends of friends, to offer a little support out here, which is really fortunate. The reason I could afford this trip was the kind generosity of my friends in England whom I had planned to stay with. I’ve been here since Thursday and the ash is worsening.

I’d been holding out for a flight on Sunday, particularly since that travel is paid for and a train/ferry is not, however that is looking increasingly unlikely as the situation in Iceland progesses.

Thankfully, it appears I am about to be rescued. It looks like The plan is shaping up to staying put here until Tuesday, taking a train to Rotterdam, taking a ferry to England, then another 3 train connections through England to get to my friends. Oi!

I’d thought to possible tour Europe rather than stay here another 3 days, but I lucked out with an english speaking country to be stranded in, and with at least a couple people here I can call if my arm falls off or something, I’m thinking to stick around Amsterdam rather than tool around elsewhere.

This place is beautiful and I enjoy it very much. Things are beginning to turn from enjoying being here to waiting to move on, though. I am ready to be on my way and making progress toward my friends as well as financial relief. A light at the end of the tunnel is good.

Also; The toilets in Amsterdam are really great for people who like to survey before flushing. :)

Apparently no sooner had I left the states, an Iceland volcano errupted for the second time in a month, grounding air traffic all over the .eu. I’m been killing time at the airport in .nl after my flight into Bristol was cancelled with no indication when flights will resume. About 8 hours in, they shut down the entire airport, and apparently all air traffic in the european regeion now.

Given my budget, and no refund being offered, I’m sticking it out here for at least a day to see if the smoke clears and I can catch another flight. Was thinking about training into town since I’m stuck here anyway, and will decide about that after I get some food and a nap and let a little time pass to assess the situation. There were hundreds if not thousands of people stranded here, clogging up the transit and hotels. I’ll bet it’ll be easier to find lodging or even a ride into the city tomorrow morning.

As for the actual trip, for a 10+ hour flight in a middle seat on a plane that was peppered with little kids, it was remarkably uneventful and went along quickly. I am very glad I packed benedryl and have a tolerance for bad movies on planes (It’s Complicated, and Sherlock Holmes – both solidy mediocre). And now I know why were were an hour late even though we left on time…

I had a moment with the ticketing lady as I was getting my boarding pass in Seattle – “GOOD Girl!” was her response to my refusing to check any baggage. I’m feeling pretty deserving of that praise, about now. In fact, I’m rather unphased about all of this in general – My spontaneous trip to Italy didn’t work out, so I got one in Amsterdam instead. Thanks, Universe!

I have had it. I am leaving.

I want to see the world, and that’s not a new desire. When I was 20 I was going to see Europe before I was 22. Then I was going to do it before I was 25. Then I was divorced and broke and struggling through massage school. I’ve often been in relationships I wasn’t willing to set aside for a little while to go do this for myself – or even better, I was sitting around waiting for someone else to take me.

I’ve wanted to see the world for a lot of years, and have always given my self some reason why I couldn’t. Not enough time, not enough money, too many responsibilities, too much work to do – you know what, fuck it.  It’s time. There is nothing in my life that’s so god damn important it can’t be put on hold for a few weeks while I go fetch some perspective and experience how a part of the rest of the world does it. I’ve been running on fumes and I want some soul fuel.

I have friends in Bristol whom I am staying with, which is extremely fortunate and exciting as it’s been years since I’ve seen them, and also basically the only way I can do this trip right now. I let the Euro-dwellers suggest other places: I wanted to do Southern France for my first trip so it would be simple to hop over to Italy if I wanted rather than go to Paris which I can easily go to another time.

It’s about damn time gave that ‘travel’ tag some use!