Some Statistics

Countries Slept In: 4

Cities Slept In: 9

Planes Flown On: 8

Trains Taken: 15

Busses Ridden: 17

Tube Lines Ridden: 6

Taxi Rides: 4

Security Passed: 7

Beds Slept In: 11

WiFis Used: 10

Scissors Confiscated: 1

Crying Phone Calls Home: 2

Day 25

It is the last real day of the trip. We leave the hotel at 6am tomorrow. I keep thinking of a line from one of my favorite movies, Withnail and I. "We've gone on holiday by mistake..." We're not doing much today. Its 11am and we're still in the hotel. Hannah is writing post cards. I'm trying to be patient. My feet hurt too much to want to walk around any more, but I'm also restless with all of Rome waiting outside my doorstep.

My tablet has been weird about charging since we've been here. I realized today I think it was the outlet I was usuning. It seems to be a lot better since I've changed it. But that's partially why updates have been scarce and I'm so far behind in posting pictures.

So tomorrow is flying all day. It's something like a 3 hour flight to Amsterdam, a 9 hour flight to Minneapolis, and then a 3 hour flight to KC. I'm trying not to stress about it but travel days always worry me a bit. Catching things on time and all that. But I'm checking my bag tomorrow so that will make everything easier. And we have an hour and a half between each flight which should be enough time to make the change. I hope. I'm choosing to believe it will all go smoothly and i will be in my house with both my dogs well before bedtime tomorrow night.

When the girl finishes her post cards we are heading out. She's going to bottle a little bit if the water from Trevi fountain for a friend of hers and i think I'll get some for my mom. I don't even remember where else we were going to walk, but it seems like we had some ideas. We haven't visited any churches or museums here, but I think we've seen all the good stuff. I wish we were going back to the forum but it costs so i kind of doubt we are. But who knows. We'll see.

I wish I had some email from home, but there's been plenty little of that. I don't think home gets how hard it is to be away for so long or how much little messages help.

I'm going to go do some stuff to help Hannah along.
See you tomorrow.

Day 19

I am cranky today. I haven't had many cranky days on this trip but this was one of them. I started to list all the things that made me vranky but that is unhelpful, so i deleted them.

We are in the lobby of our hostel. Its crowded but surprisingly quiet. Which is nice. Also Hannah just did something really nice for me and that was nice too. I think were in for the night. Its really cold today. We weren't quite prepared for it. And we couldn't find a lot of stuff to do, at least not without spending a lot of money. Its 8:30. Whichbisnt really too early to be done for the day because we have to be all packed up and ready to go by like 8am tomorrow. We have our Mad Max tour to some henges and some lovely quaint towns and then a quick exit out of town and back to Susan's. We hope quick. We'll see I guess. I hope it's warmer tomorrow, and i especially hope less pouring rain. It really came down at several points today.

One week from now we'll be on a plane home. You know I want to see Rome but we are so ready. We are worn out. At least we won't be cold in Rome. We might be too hot and sweaty but it seems like a nice change.

Wow. A giant group of maybe 20 teen agers just showed up. I think that's my cue to go to my room!

I still haven't written about London, have I? I am way behind. I may never catch up, but I will try.

First I'll tell you I am in the kitchen at the YMCA hostel in Bath. Hannah and I got here after a long boring train ride from Chichester and a wee hike from the train station. I forgot to download my directions while at Susan's and was proud of myself for remembering the way here from last time. I was pleased to find it was a lot closer than I remembered. We had a lovely dinner of sammies, chips, fruit and soda provided by Susan and now were enjoying the free wifi while a bunch of Spanish girls char loudly. The wifi here is free, but not in the rooms. The hostel is pretty nice. Second best after the Caledonia Backpackers in Edinburgh.

The trip from Edinburgh to London was long and a little hectic. I wasn't exactly sure how to get from Heathrow to the city, and by the time we made it in it was late and crowded (Friday night). I
It was really warm out, especially after Scotland and it was practically a furnace in the subway (Tube). I was red faced and sweaty by the time we made it to the hostel, and then we had to climb a thousand steps to our teeny tiny room. I'll save the hostel review for a post later, but we did not love it. We rested up and made it back down to the lobby to pay a pound for 20 minutes of internet and then head out for dinner and a look about. We bought some groceries and ate them in some square before heading down for a look at the lights and the river from the Millennium Bridge. Then we went back and seriously crashed out.

Until the next morning when the bells woke me up. Eventually I got Hannah up and out towards the British museum. We spent 4 hours there and didn't even see half of it. It was fantastic. We didn't know what to do next for sure, and we didn't know exactly where we were, but lucky for us there were lots of maps about. We found a Marks & Spencer across the street from a tube stop and I bought a shirt to try to replace my lost shirt. We took the tube to see Parliament, heard Big Ben chime, ate some sammies at Cafe Nero (and found dome free wifi!), saw Westminster Abbey (but didn't go inside because it was closing), bought some cold medicine (day nurse) at Boots, walked down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and then headed back to the hostel for a quick rest and change of clothes before we met the London Walks guide for a ghost tour of our area. We learned many creepy things, including that we were staying right down the road from the barber shop of Sweeny Todd himself. I enjoyed it but Hannah didn't find it ghosty enough I don't think.

The next day was Sunday so we headed off to Hyde Park for Speaker's Corner. It was insanely crowded on the tube, and maybe even more so in the park! There was some free concert and a 5k run, so Speaker's corner wasn't even happening. Big drag. We didn't even really enjoy the park. Bad choice all around. We were right on Oxford St so Hannah wanted to do some shopping. She bought a few things at H & M. We headed off to the tube stop for the Harry Potter walking tour and almost missed it because I had the wrong time in mind. We missed the first stop, which was Gringotts Bank, but rushed to catch up with them at the next stop. I didn't really love it. It was rushed and covered a huge area with tons of walking. There was too much about other movies, not enough HP talk, and the guide said Rowling wrong. It ended up in the middle of some Thames Fare going on along the river and I could not even bare how crowded it was. I thought I was about to have a freak out panic attack at a couple points but we finally made it back to the hostel where we hurriedly packed up, checked out, took a couple tubes trains to Waterloo station where we caught a train to Oxshott where my cousin Pam and her family lived.

They picked us up at the station, took us to their home and fed us some dinner. I had a marvelous shower. We slept great that night and decided to take the whole day off on Monday and rested up. Which was great and not great at the same time. We definitely needed the rest, but it turned out that there were so many things in London we didnt get to do that we really wished we would have had that extra day in the city.

Even though Hannah slept almost all day Monday, it was really hard to get her up and going Tuesday morning. It was almost 1 by the time we made it to the Tower of London. We stayed there til they closed, and then took the Jack the Ripper tour from the Tower Hill tube stop. We meant to take the London Walks tour but we weren't really on about the company after our other two walks, and then another guy showed up about 45 minutes earlier offering a different Jack the Ripper walk and we decided to go with him. We were really glad we did. H loved it, and even though I don't care about Jack the Ripper I found the tour very interesting. Because our guide was great. His name was Chris and he spent his days as a Beefeater at the Tower of London as the Raven keeper. It was super late by the time we made it back to Oxshott by Pam and Alex were so great they stayed up to give us a ride home from the train station.

And then it was our last day in London already! Instead of going into the city proper we took the train to Hampton Court. We loved it bunches. I think it was the best done of all the places we toured. We got there an hour after they opened and stayed almost till they kicked us out. We made it back to Oxshott just in time to walk across the field from the train station before it got dark, which was good because no one was around to pick us up that night. We had some dinner and packed up our suitcases. We enjoyed some internet and i called home for a bit. I tried to stay up til Pam got home but kept dozing off. But I woke up when she got there so we could say goodbye. They were up and out early the next morning and we were out hiking across the field with our luggage not much longer on the way to take the train to Susan's at Havant. Which you pronounce like 'haven't, not like huh-vant they way I'd think if it were American.

So that was London. Fast and furious, except the one day it wasn't.
I'm typed out for tonight. Maybe I can sum up our time around Chichester tomorrow when I wake up too early and can't get Hannah out of bed. Tomorrow is the Roman baths and a general looking around this beautiful ancient town.
Xox

One thing I forgot about Scotland - after lunch at the elephant house we stopped by the statue and graveyard of the little dog known as grayfriar's bobby. It started raining though so we didn't stay long.

Now we are my friend Jen's sister's house which I think is in Aldsworth. There are a million little towns and villages around here so I'm neverexactlysure where we are, but they're all around Chichesterbwhere Jen used to live.

Yesterday we took the train here from Pam's house outside London, so goodbye to London. We really didn't have nearly enough time there to do everything we wanted. Not even close really. We both half regret the day we took off and slacked about at Pam's but on the other hand we really needed a good rest. We will be back there for a few hours between Bath and Rome, but most of twill be sleeping and not really long enough to get anything seen.

So Susan met us at the airport yesterday, brought us back to her house for some lunch and then into Chichester to see Jennifer and have a bit of a walk around town. We saw the cathederal,  stopped in a couple shops (where I wanted to buy lots of stuff), had cake and coffee at Jen's favorite place, played at the park and walked along a bit of the Roman wall. Chichester started as a Roman town. I love that. Can't find any of those in Kansas.

Today we are waiting on the horse people to show up at the horse farm across the road. Hannah is hoping she'll be able to ride one. We hung out with the horses for a while last night and fed them lots of apples. After that I think we're visiting the castle at Arundel, visiting Jen's other sister Caroline, and later having a big dinner with a few of Jen's friends. Tomorrow we'll visit Jen's beloved open air museum before we take an evening train to Bath.

OK we're off. More later.

Catch up: all about Scotland

I'm far behind on telling you about what we've been up to. I have time today so I'm going to try to catch up. I hope I can keep it all straight!

We made it to Scotland and took the super efficient air link bus to our hostel. The Caledonia backpackers was the hostel I was most unsure about and it turned out to be the very most fantastic. It was big and beautiful. The desk people were helpful and friendly. There was strong wifi in our room and a million computers all around. We headed out to get some food and afterward ended up walking all around, along princess street and up the mound to the royal mile. Man that was a hike! But it was beautiful up there. We were in love with Scotland.

The next day we slept in a bit and then walked to the train station to hop aboard one of the many hop on hop off busses. We paid one price and were able to us any of the different tour busses throughout the day. First we took the full tour around the city, and then got off at the national museum. I think Hannah liked it more than I did, and I think we somehow managed to miss a binch of stuff. Afterward we wandered around looking for the cafe where jk Rowling sat to write harry potter. There was a kids bday party going on and it was way too crowded. We were starving and they were mostly out of food so we split something and moved on without getting the real effect. I can't even remember what we did next but I'm sure we got some real food at some point. We rode our way up to the castle but didn't go inside. I was cold and starting to feel sick. We had planned to go on an 8pm ghost tour but met up with a guy from mercat tours who had a ghost tour at 7 so we decided to take it as well. It was full of murder and torture stories. Hannah loved it. She wanted to do another one but it was late and we had an early morning the next day so When it was done we walked the long way home and went to bed.

The next day was our Hairy Coo tour to the highlands and around. We went to Stirling and climbed way too far up a steep mountain to the William Wallace monument. It wasn't really with it and made me kinda too worn out to otherbhikes later in the day that I might have liked. The view was nice, but you know, not worth it for me. We saw lots of fantastic scenery, lakes (or lochs) everywhere, moss, ferns and forests. We had a pup lunch in a charming little town and towards the end of the tour caught up with some hairy cows that ate bread from our hands and were fantasticly cute.

It was too late to tour the castle as we had planned when we got back so we decided to go on a tour of the underground Mary King's Close. Very historic and fascinating. In the olden days so many people were crammed into the 1 mile square that was Edinburgh at the time. Hard to imagine.

The next day was our last there. We were slow to get around and didn't do much but visit another pub for lunch before we headed back to the airport for our flight to London. I'm about out of battery now so I'm going to stop here for now and tell you about London later.

day 12

it's 10:30 and I am safely snuggled into the warm, quiet, big bed in a bedroom all of my own at my cousin Pam's house in Surrey. not even an hour away from the crazy city of London. I am grateful to my dad and her dad and being a part of a family that takes family seriously, and one that would happily offer up  warm meals and comfy beds and all the hospitality that comes with it, even at the last minute.

part of me wants to stay awake in the quiet and write about all the things we've done lately. but another, I think stronger part wants to lay back, cuddle up and get some much needed rest. Hannah and are taking the day off tomorrow. while our family goes to work and school we are going to lounge around their home. doing laundry, taking long showers and never walking further than from one room to the next. I'm thinking that will be a better day for writing of our adventures, and hopefully uploading pictures.

so goodnight for now. I'll see you tomorrow, relaxed, well rested and clean.

Day 11

We are in a pretty craptastic hostel at the moment. Its small, it's super hot for some reason and the only internet is for pay and only in the lobby. The window opens onto a busy street and there are also the bells of saint Paul's, just around the corner. The bells are lovely but they make it kind of impossible to sleep past 7. Even if I could the loading and unloading of the trucks starting at 8 wouldn't let us sleep much later. The one thing it does have going for it is location. As I mentioned, right around the corner from beautiful St Paul's. Close to two subway lines, although my favorite one is closed at the moment.

Luckily for us my dad's cousin lives just outside of London in Surrey (like Harry Potter) and has offered to let us stay with her. I'm not sure how we'll get back and forth to the city from there but we'll work something out. I don't think we can stay in this room for 5 more nights. Even though the thought of staying in the same place for 6 nights in a row does seem kind of fantastic.

Yesterday was a harsh travel day. We left for the airport at 2pm and didn't get to the hostel till a little before 10. That's just going from Edinburgh to London! We missed the train into town by seconds and had to wait half an hour for the next one. It seemed so hot here and I thought I might explode on the subway. I had a hard time buying our subway tickets and a bit of a panic when I found out the tube stop I'm familiar with is closed. But eventually we made it. After we checked in and cooled down we went out for just a bit. I got some food from the grocery store (fruit and a bagel, Hannah had burger king at the train station) and the view of St Paul's was stunning. We walked down to the millennium bridge to look at the river and the tower bridge, and then Hannah was chilly so we came back and talked awhile until we fell asleep late and then woke up bright and early this morning.

As soon as we get ourselves together we are venturing out. I'm nit sure where we're going but there's a tourist info right around the corner (the desk staff don't seem too friendly/helpful). We're thinking the British Museum or the Tower of London, both might be really crowded since it's a Saturday but that's when we're here. However first on the agenda is some breakfast. This is not a hostel that serves free breakfast so we'll have to find something along the way. Oh and maybe we'll go see the Parliament buildings and all that as well. Who knows. Oh and definitely a pharmacy somewhere along the way.

We miss Scotland but it seems like the weather might be much better here. We hope anyway. Scotland was cold and rainy, at least while we were there. We're dreaming of clean laundry, proper showers and the lovely sites of London.

Day 10

<p>&lt;p&gt;I wish it weren't 4am in America. I feel like calling home. I'm a little homsick this morning, and a little worried about how things will go in a couple days on 9/11. It will be hard to be away if anything happens, so I will just hope for the best.</p>
<p>In happier news, my cousin (technically my dad's cousin) has offered to have Hannah and I stay with us at her place outside London when we're in town and honestly the thought of a real house with non public bathrooms and actual family seems dreamy right now. I'm not sure how we'd get back and forth to the city but I'm sure we'll figure that all out. They have people staying with them through the weekend so we'll still head for the hostel first but then that will be a great get away.</p>
<p>We have to check out of here at noon, and then we'll wander the streets for a couple hours until we head for the airport where I hope it will go more smoothly than it did in Dublin. Its a short flight into London and then a train followed by a tube trip and a short walk to our hostel near St Paul's.
</p>

I don't know what we'll do tonight. Maybe walk along the river and see some sites. Tomorrow might be the tower of London. Or maybe the museum of London. It'll be the weekend so I'm guessing places will be crowded.

It will be sad to leave Edinburgh and Scotland behind. Its been great here. But I'll also be happy to move on to England and cities there. Of course then sunny Rome, and afterwards beloved home. We're a third of the way through the trip already. So far so good.

Day 7

<p>We have 30 minutes still till we can go to our gate. There's plenty of wifi but its all for pay. Drag. Its been a harsh morning. Our hostel room last night was about the size of a jail cell and neither of us wanted to get up this morning. I tried to rush h along still we missed our bus by about a minute. We waited about 20 minutes for the next one. We got here a little more than 3 hours til our flight which is what they say for an international flight, but when the flight itself if only an hour long it seems like a really long time to wait.

We had some trouble with security here. They unpacked Hannah's entire suitcase because we had a pair of scissors that were 1 cm too long. Seriously. And in the rush to repack the entire thing I thought I lost my precious tablet. Then it took me so long checking with the lost and found h kind of freaked as was really upset by the time I made it back to her. Of course I found the tablet in my bag right where it was supposed to be and felt like a nut job for freaking about it. Travel days are my least favorite for sure.

You know we packed really light. A carry on each. That meant I had two long slleved shirts for the 3 weeks of cold weather. And already I left one (my favorite of course) behind on the aran islands. Geez. I'm doubtful I'll find something else and don't really want to spend any time clothes shopping. It seems like were always rushing and out of time and not sleeping enough the way it is. Maybe when were in London and have a little more time. I wish there were better shops here at the airport where we have plenty of time to kill but there are only fancy shopd s for skinny posh girls. And Irish t-shirts of course.

So I wish I could post some pictures. Again maybe in London. I think were there for 6 days maybe. Edinburgh is only 4 days/3 nights. The western part of Ireland was so beautiful. We saw ancient ruins and tiny cottages and the sea. We went on a big climb to a 3000 year old Celtic fort on the edge of the cliffs that was incredible. We saw the cliffs of moher (aka the cliffs if insanity in the princess bride) and some 4000+ burial sites (maybe my favorite bit). And plenty of other fascinating bits as well. I hope I can type about them soon.

Ten minutes till the gates supposed to open. Yesterday was a super boring travel day and today is turning out to be the same. I hope Edinburgh is great and we love Scotland but you know I'm anxious to get to England and Rome. Hopefully I'll get to post this and maybe some photos from our hostel tonight. Wait and see I guess. You people are not texting me enough though. Or emailing or whatever. So get on that.

Xoxo.

Day 5. 9pm

Its dark out. We are in our beds, in our room at our B&B on the Irish island of Inis Mor. We got back here to our room around 5 I think and haven't found the will (or the warmth) to head back out, although our friend Gene headed back to town to find a warm dinner and some Irish speakers a few hours ago. When he left Hannah was fast asleep and I was still to damp and worn out to think about going anywhere.

As usual when its tome to update you, my thoughts feel too scattered and unorganized.

So day 2 must have been Thursday. That day Hannah and I took a day tripbtonthe mountains of Wicklow and the ancient monastic site at Glendalough. It was beautiful and our tour guide/bus driver Stephen was great. We had a pub lunch where Hannah had her first beer. She didn't really like it at all. No, it wasn't a Guiness. That night we went out to find a pub with some traditional music with zero luck which definitely bummed me out. We went to bed too late and too tired.

Morning of day 3 we had to wake up and pack our bags to check out of our hostel. We rented a locker and wandered a few blocks away to the Dublin Archaeology Museum where we saw some fascinating things found in the Irish bogs -- including the perfectly preserved bodies of 3 ancient men. Fascinating and creepy. We both felt kind of sick after looking at them. We decided to go back for our bags and head on over to the train station to grab lunch and wait for our train to Galway.

We had a train situation and had to get off in a town called At Henry (I think) and take a bus the rest of the way to Galway. It was raining pretty seriously when we got there and I was kinda freaking out over several things. Our friend Gene met us at the station and we took a cab to our b&B. At first I was a bit disappointed with it but it later grew on me. I wasn't digging life that night so Gene and his friends invited us out to dinner with them. It was still super rainy. We had a ki d of lovely posh dinner. I had a Risotto and h tried a pork belly she really loved. We got back way too late. Maybe around midnight. I had a bit if a brakedown and had to call home for a bit. Eventually we got to bed around 1am.

We were both much better in the morning. Day 4. Which was what? Yesterday? Wow seems so long ago but yes. Saturday. We had a full Irish breakfast (or Hannah did. I skipped the meat of course) and rode off to catch the coach for our full day trip to the burren and the cliffs of mother and many other fabulous places. It was a fantastic trip, even though our guide wasn't nearly as great as Stephen. We got back around dinner time and stopped by the grocery store on our walk home for a dinner of bread, cheese and candy bars. We packed all up and watched comedy central til we crashed out (which for me was at about 10pm).

Which leads to this morning. We had breakfast early and headed downtown to catch to the bus to Rosavel to catch the ferry to The A ran Islands. The weather was on and off all day but lovely when we got here. We met a wonderful man named Patrick who brought us to our B&B with hid horse Grace and his cart. Then he gave us a ride around the island, stopping at the ancient (1000 Bc) fort of Dun Aengus, which you should look up on Wikipedia because its fascinating, but I'm too tired to actually tell you all about it.

I wish we could have stayed up there a long time but Patrick and Grace were waiting for us so we had to head back. It just started to sprinkle when we were headed back. We had some lunch in a cafe. I had some delicious beef guiness stew. Very yum. Just when we were headed back to our ride it started poring rain with crazy winds. The rain was horizontal and even the locals were saying it was unusually bad. Eventually we headed back anyway, in the freezinf rain and wind. We got soaked. But it was with it. Beautiful and amazing. I only wish we would have had the energy to head back to the village tonight with Gene. In the morning Patrick will pick us up and take us back to town if we want but I kind of hope we head in earlier to check stuff out. We take the noon ferry back to the big island and then its a rush to catch the train back to Dublin where well finally do some laundry and get ready to fly to Scotland the next day!

So love you you all. Having a great time. Don't know when I'll be able to check back in but I promise I will when I can!

Xoxo

Day 2 unfinished

Tired again. Hannah is napping. I am meant to be as well but I can't seem to rest. I am thinking about what to do tomorrow, how to arrange it, and how/when to get to the train station for our train to Galway. It seems soon to be leaving Dublin tomorrow, but we will be back for almost 24 hours on Monday. I wish I could talk over plans with the girl but as I said she is fast asleep.

Today was a busy day. We were up and downstairs eating breakfast by 7am. We walked to the tourist info center, which is inside a lovely old church to meet our tour bus, but we were way too early. We walked around a bit and saw the outside of Trinity College as well as the statue of Molly Malone, aka the Tart with the Cart and many other names I can't remember right now. We walked up and down Grafton St which is a fancy shopping district closed off to traffic. It was interesting watching everyone hurt off to work. Hannah admired the many shoe stores. I noticed a Pizza Hut, Burger King and a very fancy McDonalds.

1 day

Oh I so meant to write a two week out post, and then a one week out post. But I didn't.
Today is one day away. 24 hours from now we'll be at the airport, waiting to board the plane to Atlanta that will take us to the plane to Dublin and then 8 hours later we'll be in Ireland. I've been dreaming of Ireland since I was in 6th grade, and trust me that was a really long time ago.

Hannah is packed. I'm very close to packed but not zipped up because there are a few last minute things we'll toss in tomorrow. Hannah still needs to switch purses and load music onto her iPod touch. We've said goodbye to our boyfriends and we're giving the dogs extra snuggles all day long.

I'm so very excited. I hope I've remembered everything and sorted it well. I've tried really hard to be super organized, but you never know. I keep remembering things that are packed in my suitcase that need to go in my shoulder bag.

In about an hour I'll be able to check in online for our long flight with Air France. About an hour after that I'll be able to check in online for the flight to Delta. That's super exciting. It's all so very real, and so very close. It's bout at the point that there's no more sense in worrying (as if there ever is) and to just surrender to the adventure.

I'll keep in touch.

To do list

Here's my list of things I still need to I do:

Order insulin case from Magellans

Talk to at&t Find luggage lock Write Bath YMCA Write Susan Buy train tickets Reserve Hairy Coo tour Put info in calendar Waterproof things Have zipper replaced Stock up wet food Clear out TiVo Cancel some season passes Make playlists Buy SD cards Practice Italian Buy cliff bars Sort drugs Call insurance company Copy passports Talk to bank Email Emma New collar for Daisy Schedule dog sitters Put photos on devices Email Hiberia Finish guides Put guides on devices Try camera charger Try new camera battery Practice pack Make Hannah practice pack Walk with Hannah Dang. That's a lot.

One month from today.

31 days from now Hannah and I will have just boarded a plane in Atlanta headed for Dublin, Ireland.
This month is going to fly by.

Previously...

Galway

So I just picked a place to stay in Galway.

I’m not sure it’s the best choice, and I’m pretty sure I could have waited a lot longer to book, but now it’s done and I know where I’m sleeping every night we’re away and that just feels good.

Previously... 69 days

69 days

Here are some updates.

This morning, I booked our tour with Viatour for the “Wild Wicklow and Glendalough” day trip from Dublin. I think it sounds fantastic and beyond beautiful. At the website they have photos tour goers have taken and they are stunning and breathtaking. We do that the first full day of our grand adventure.

Last week I bought a tablet to take on the trip - the Acer Iconia a500. It’s a 10 inch tablet running Android. I didn’t want to take my MacBook because it’s too big and heavy, but I didn’t want to just use the phone because it’s too small. I’ve been making a set of webpages to serve as our guide. I’ll keep all our important documents on it just in case. There are lots of travel apps, maps, audio guides on it as well as my Rick Steves travel guides and books to read for fun. And movies to watch on planes and trains. And a way to stay in touch with people back home.

The one thing that doesn’t work is Tumblr. !! Which is very unfortunate because I started this tumblr to document our trip. So I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that. I liked this because it’s so easy to update, but now I’m wondering if I need to start a blog somewhere else, either at a blog spot like wordpress or at a blog site made especially for travel blogs. I need to decide pretty soon, but as of now I have no idea.

So now I have all our plane tickets, almost all of our lodgings (still need a place in Galway!), our Mad Max day trip and now this Wild Wicklow trip. The Hairy Coo tour we want to take from Edinburgh isn’t taking resevations for September yet but I’ll do that soon. I guess my next step is to get on to that Galway lodging bit.

69 days. A little more than 2 months. Crazy. I am equally Can’t Wait! and Oh my goodness, that’s so soon!! If I move this I’ll keep you updated.

Previously...

80 days till we fly to Dublin

and start our Big Adventure.

!!!!!

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.”

—	Alan Keightly

Previously...

believe it or not

i have been obsessing over the itinerary even more. i think i am going to cut the 3 day lake district and roman wall tour. i think i might cut out one day in rome. i’m trying to add in some more down time so the girl doesn’t get too overwhelmed at being away from home for so long in such a foreign place. i don’t want to make her hate traveling when she’s just starting. i think i have the trip down to 26 days instead of 30. only 4 less days, but at a slightly slower pace. maybe this will be it. but probably not.

“The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor.
— unknown”

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
—Martin Buber”

Previously...

Current Itinerary

1. Leave
2. Arrive Dublin
3. Dublin
4. Glendalough Tour
5. Galway
6. The Burren, Cliffs of Moher
7. Aran Island sleep over
8. Aran Island, travel to Dublin
9. Fly to Edinburgh
10. Edinburgh
11. 3 day Wall & Lake District Tour
12. Tour
13. Tour, travel to London
14. London
15. London
16. London
17. London
18. London
19. travel to Chichester
20. Chichester
21. Chichester, travel to Bath
22. Bath
23. Mad Max Tour
24. travel to London
25. fly to Rome
26. Rome
27. Rome
28. Rome
29. Rome
30. Home

It’s getting closer to being finalized. What do you think about this plan?

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land, it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.
—GK Chesterton”

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

Previously...

Questions

Why is it so hard to figure out what day to leave.

Is it better to arrive in Dublin on a Sunday morning or a Monday morning,

Is 2 days and 2 nights in Edinburgh enough or do I need one more?

“I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in Irish bog to see the moon when it is full.
— Lord Dunsany”

Previously...

Can Not Wait.

One reason I made this tumblr is to say stuff like what I’m about to say. Stuff that would seriously annoy my regular life people who don’t care about travel, and somewhat annoy the ones who do but are tired of hearing me talk about it.

I Can Not Believe I Am Going to the Magical British Isles in 4 Months. Something Like 160 days. !!! I love them so much.

I haven’t been to all of them, but I’ve always known I’d love them. Since my trip to Europe 4 years ago I’ve known for sure that I love my beloved England. Right now I’m so thrilled about Ireland I know I will love it. I was in grade school when I started fantasizing about Ireland and obsessively reading Irish folk tales. I shopped at the Irish import store and had a subscription to Ireland of the Welcomes magazine. I know the least about Scotland but it looks so beautiful and the people sound so fun I can’t imagine not loving it as well.

So yeah. I am Excited. Excited! I tell you.
I am going to see coastlines and maybe a waterfall and streams and hills and mountains and cliffs and ancient things that people built thousands of years ago. And I am going to spend the night on an Aran Island and listen to the same wind that people listened to as they slept on the island thousands of years ago.
I’m also going to see Castles and beautiful buildings that are hundreds of years old. I’m going to see where history went down. I am going to feel the vibe.
And I’m going to the big city of London. So much to love there. More of history and beautiful old architecture. Plus the vibe of a big city. Walking along the lake. Free museums. Soaking up the … London.
That’s not even mentioning going to Bath, and taking the Mad Max tour to Stonehenge and Avebury. Or going to visit Jen’s friends and family in Chichester. Or if Hannah really does decide she can stand going to Rome (and if we can afford it).

I am just swoony with excitement. I want to go, right now. I am ready. Well, I’m not ready practically, but in my head and in my heart I can barely wait another minute.

“Travel is an emotional experience. It is a privilege that transcends our humanity, expands our horizons and in the process, transforms us.”

—	Javier Carrete

Previously...

Wild Wicklow and Glendalough Tour

I think we’ll take this day trip out of Dublin.

Previously...

The Latest

So here’s my new quandary about The Trip.

You know I want to take that 3 day tour out of Edinburgh. It would take us to Hadrian’s Wall, to see marvels of ancient Roman Britons. Then we’d sleep in a B&B in the Lake District. Dig on the Lake District all the next day. Sleep in the same B&B again. Morning = more of the Lake District and then we’d catch a train from there in to London. Dreamy.

The drag part is they only give the tour on two days in September. The 7th and the 21st. That isn’t when we were planning to be there, but since I now know there’s not that much of a penalty if I take my money out of the CD early, we have much more freedom about when we want to go.

So, do I shift the trip back enough that we’ll be leaving Edinburgh on the 7th? That’s moving it back almost 2 weeks. But so what? Is there any reason not to? I wish I had someone’s to ask who could give me some good advice. Otherwise I just have to decide on my own, which is hard.

I’ll have to keep thinking about it.

Previously... 3.17.11

03/17/2011 I’m going to Ireland.

I am so excited about my upcoming trip I can barely stand it sometimes. Especially today when everyone is thinking about Ireland. I’m going to Ireland! I can’t wait to look at it.
In about 174 days now. I say about because I’m still not sure when we’re leaving exactly, but sometime in the first week of September. Or maybe the end of August if I can work it.

I mentioned we’re leaving out Glastonbury. Kinda sad, because it was certainly the most holy and spiritual place I’ve ever been. And as a big hippy town, it’s a lot like home which is nice after being gone for so long. That gave us a few extra days to do other things. I had thought we’d ride a bus from Galway to Dingle and hang out there for a while, but instead now I think we’ll add a couple day trip/tours.

There’s one from Dublin called the Wild Wicklow tour. It goes through Glendalough. The pictures people have posted from it are unbelieveable. Mountains and waterfalls and stony creeks. Ruins of ancient monasteries. Lunch in a little pub (full of tourists). I think Hannah and I will both love it. I’m very excited to have found it and that we’ll get to check out that part of Ireland.

The second tour I found is more for me than Hannah, but I think she’ll love it too. Plus it helps move us along from Edinburgh to London. It’s a 3 day trip with 2 nights in B&Bs. It covers Hadrian’s wall and the Lake district, the main two places I wanted to add to the trip but wasn’t sure how! Perfect. H will be bored at the wall maybe, but how can she resist the beauty of the Lake District? I hope I’ll have a chance to visit the Wordsworth cottage, but even if we don’t I will love setting my own two eyes on the Lake District. My man Wordsworth called it “the loveliest spot that man hath found”.

I say my man Wordsworth, but it’s really his sister Dorothy that I’m really a fan of. Her journals have been published and they are so very good. I wish I could make Hannah read them before we go, but I can barely get her to clean her spot at the dinner table. I hope I can make myself read it actually. Sometimes I can barely get myself to put my clean laundry away.

Oh wait. That tour is only given twice a month. I might be able to plan our trip so we’re there on the right day, but I also have made plans with a friend to meet up in Galway. I’ll have to check to see if he could change. Drag. I guess that’s a wait and see. It doesn’t really change my overall level of excitement. There’s also the thought that we make a stop in the Lake District on our own.

Whatever happens, and I know it won’t all go smoothly, I am so excited. I can’t believe I get to go. Again. It is going to be so much fun seeing things that are so beautiful and so old and so of historical import. And I hope Hannah will have a great time and it will be the funnest thing we’ve ever done together.

Previously... 3.8.11

03/08/2011 List of Questions

In honor of List it Tuesday, here’s my list of qustions wandering around my head. It’s not hand written, which I think was the original idea, but you can’t have everything.

They’re mostly about my trip. Some things are changed now and a new list of questions have popped up. For example…

Hannah wants to leave Glastonbury off our itinerary. I’m fine with that, surprisingly. The question is should we add in Dingle, Ireland (or somewhere else) instead?

Am I wrong to revisit British cities I loved before? Should I be trying all new places? New countries? (We are going to Ireland and Scotland which are both new for me.)

Should I buy a new suitcase with wheels or stick to the one I have that has back pack straps?

Should I take Ali Edwards’ new Scrapbook on the Road? It’s only $14.

Should I make and take a journal on my trip, like Mary Ann Moss and Ali and Monika Wright - and my Disney book? Or should I just take a little journal for my thoughs and put together a book after I get home?

Where is my beloved brown sweater? It zips up the front. It has a hood. It goes with everything. I really wanted to take it on the trip.

I wonder what kind of tablet I’m going to get. Not an iPad. An android tablet for sure, but what kind, and what size? I thought I wanted a 10 inch but now I’m thinking the 7 inch looks super easy to carry around.

How many weeks till this trip anyway?

Am I ever going to start practice walking?

When should I cash out my CD? I want to use the money for some things, like clothes and supplies and before long deposits and plane tickets, but I’m afraid once I take it out I’ll start dwindling it away on things I don’t really need.

Should I buy Hannah her own camera? She doesn’t really want one. She doesn’t beg or anything. And by them she’ll have a new phone with a decent phone camera. On one hand I think the more pictures the better, on the other, just because she has a camera doesn’t mean she’ll actually use it.

Fell free to leave answers/suggestions in the comments. I could use some help.
(except i can’t figure out how to have this post have the reply option)

Previously... 3.4.11

3.4.11 The Grandpa Trip

The Grandpa Trip

It’s been a while, so I thought I’d catch you all up on our trip plans.
We had a mini crisis for a while when Hannah decided she just wasn’t interested in Europe and didn’t want to go. It’s true she’s not really not so interested in Europe or European history. She pointed out that I dreamed of going to Europe since I was a girl but she never really did. She dreams of going to Japan. And one thing I’ve always strived for as a mom is to not push my dreams on her. So I said ok.

I still wanted to take her on a trip though, as a graduation present. We talked about going back to “our” resort on the beach in Mexico. We half planned a fantastic trip to NYC, around Philly, PA and Washington DC, seeing fantastic things and many friends along the way. I was getting kind of excited about both of them.

But then Hannah had a talk with my best friend Debra. And Hannah remembered how uninterested she was in NYC before we got there and how much she was wildly in love with it after we were there. And she remembered how sick she was of me talking about Disney World before we went. She didn’t want to even hear the word Disney ever again. And then she had such a great fun time there. And so she decided, this time for real and permanent, that we’re going to Europe. The Magic Islands to be more precise.

We are taking a look at the itinerary though. We’re thinking of adding Dingle, Ireland and cutting out Glastonbury, England (even though is the most holy, sacred place I’ve ever been to).

I’m glad things have resolved pleasantly, but it was a stressful couple weeks. I’m still excited to go. Plus I got good financing news so I’m a lot less stressed about the whole thing. However it puts more stuff in the air because we no longer have to wait till September to go. Should we change our dates? Who can say. H and I still have talking to do about where, for sure, we’re going to go. I also have some shopping to do. I need a cardigan, and travel skirt, a bag and a nice waterproof jacket. Oh, and a nice android tablet, but that will wait till around my birthday. I don’t even know what all Hannah needs but it’s more than I do.

So there’s my story about our upcoming trip. It’s getting wildly close. !!!

Previously... 1.13.11

01/13/2011 Travel Thursday

I’ve been looking forward to this day, even though it’s taken me till almost bedtime to get around to it. Today is Travel Thursday. In theory I’ll write about trips from the past as well as what’s coming up, but right now I’m all about the Grandpa trip to Europe with Hannah this fall. Today I’m going to talk about or plans for our first week there.

Day 1 will be all about the flying. We’ll probably leave Kansas City mid morning and get to somewhere on the east coast a few hours later. Then we’ll get on a big plane and fly across the ocean to Dublin, Ireland.

Day 2 is when we’ll get there, probably early in the morning. We’ll take a bus into the city and find our hostel (we’re leaning towards Barnacles Temple Bar or Avalon House). It’ll be too early to check in so we’ll just drop off our bags and take off for the city. We might be sleep deprived, although through the miracle of modern medicine we might actually be able to sleep on the plane. We’ll definitely be jet lagged but we’ll follow Rick Steve’s advice for dealing with jet lag. We’ll stay awake, we’ll get exercise by walking around the city center, and hopefully we’ll get lots of sunshine (although it is Ireland). For dinner we’ll eat at a pub and share a pint (or a half pint) before we head back to fall asleep early.

Day 3 we’ll catch the hop on hop off bus. We’ll hop on and off where it seems good. For sure we’ll check out the hundreds of years old jail. We may or may not take a tour of the Guiness factory. That night we’ll take a pub tour, either the literary or music one before we go to bed.

Day 4 we’ll check out of the hostel and catch a bus across the country to Galway. I think it’s about a 3 hour bus ride. Galway is a much smaller town and I’m excited to see the country side around it. I have no idea where we’ll stay in Galway - a hostel or a B & B, I don’t know yet. But wherever it is we’ll check in there as soon as we arrive and again leave our bags there. That’s the day we’ll walk around and check out the town.

Day 5 we catch a bus for a tour of many things, mainly the Cliffs of Moher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_Moher), known ad the Ciffs of Insanity to Princess Bride fans. I have been in love with pictures of this place for years and can not wait to visit them myself.

Day 6 we catch a bus and then a ferry to the biggest of the Aran Island, Inis Mor. We’ll wander about and check out very ancient ruins (my favorite kind). There’s a chance we will spend the night on the island, but we’ll probably head back to Galway on the last ferry of the day (at 5:30).

Day 7 we head back to Dublin. I’m not sure what we’ll do but our flight to Edinburgh will leave at 6am on day 8 so we’ll want to be in town so we can make it on time. We’ll stay in the same place we stayed at the beginning of the week.

And there’s week one. Sounds exciting. It’s hard to believe I’m really going to do it, but I guess I am. I guess we are, me and Hannah. In like 8 months. Crazy.

Hooray for Travel Thursday.

Previously... 1.5.11

01/05/2011 The Trip

So. Did you know that I’m going to Europe this year? You probably did. But you probably didn’t know how nervous I am about the whole thing! Which is stopping me from from thinking and planning the trip. It’s crazy, and yet it’s true.

I’m nervous because every time I think of it I hear the voices of my youth asking me who I think I am to be traipsing off to Europe anyway! And do I even realize how much I travel already? It’s ridiculous Travel is for rich people. Smart people. Interesting people. But not you Shelly, don’t even imagine you can go.

That voice is mean and usually just a little bit of it makes me nervous and scared, so I stop thinking about the trip, just like it says. But I realized yesterday it is not very far away! I need to start getting serious about it.

Another thing that makes me nervous is the money part. So many people think I’m wasting my money, and maybe they’re right. I can’t really know till time passes and I take a look back. But it doesn’t seem like a waste. I hear a lot that I should be using that money on a car, but that sounds like a big drag thing to spend money on. I mean I understand it’s necessary but I am just not a car lover at all.

The only thing I could spend around the same amount of money on and think is even kind of worth the same amount of money is some kind of home remodel improvement action. I want the carpets gone and fake wood floors everywhere. And my kitchen is so half broken and old I would love a new kitchen just about every single day.

Now that I’m thinking of it, I really really love the idea of a brand new kichen and wood floors.

But no! I have been planning this trip to take Hannah to Europe for I don’t know how many years. I have told everyone, and I have told Hannah. And yes I know you get nothing tangible out of it (like beautiful floors and a new fridge), but the tangible is not what I care most about. For some reason the tangible seems like the kind of thing you save up for, but when you get a big gift (like this money was to me) it is meant to be spent on things more magic than a kitchen floor.

So I have to blow off all that ‘don’t go’ thinking and just know I am supposed to go. And supposed to take Hannah even though she seems like she’d rather stay home instead. It’s the right thing to do, and so I’m going to do it.

And so i need to get busy doing it.

Oh, and one thing I got busy and did was make an executive decision that we are at least going to Rome on our trip, and maybe even Florence and/or Venice. Hannah may feel homesick some, and I’m sure she’ll miss her boyfriend, but neither enough to blot out the amazement that is Rome.

I know our itinerary. I’ve made up a little set of webpages, with pages for each city we’re staying in and pages for some things we want to visit. But I still need to read more about the cities and have better knowledge about what there is. I have some ideas for where we might stay in most cities, but not all and not for sure.

So I have a lot of reading, and a lot of planning to do. Very soon I’ll be keeping track of reservations and putting down deposits. Exciting. Expect too much talk about it soon.

Previously... 8.2.10

08/02/2010

As you may remember, Hannah isn’t comfortable with being away from home as long as we had planned for the Grandpa trip. She’s mostly fine with a 3 week trip, so today I first drafted a new 3 weeks in Great Britain with Hannah. The city named is where we’ll sleep.

1. arrive in Dublin. check it out. [Dublin]
2. day trip to New Grange. travel. check it. [Galway]
3. Aran Islands [Galway]
4. Cliffs of Moher. ? [Galway]
5. travel to Edinburgh. check it. [Edinburgh]
6. walk the Royal Mile. ? [Edinburgh]
7. day trip north [Edinburgh]
8. travel to London. walk the river. the Eye [London]
9. Tower of London, ? [London}
10. British Museum. Trafalgar. Whitehall. [London]
11. Harry Potter tour. ? [London]
12. travel to Bath. night walk. [Bath]
13. Baths, the town [Bath]
14. Mad Max Tour [Bath]
15. travel to Glastonbury. climb Tor [Glastonbury]
16. Chalice Gardens, town, Abbey [Glastonbury]
17. travel to Chichester. check it. [Chichester]
18. Weald and Downe. ? [Chichester]
19. Fishborne Roman. town. ? [Chichester]
20. Arundel Castle. travel to London [London]
21. Redo or what we missed [London]
22. Hannah goes Home :(

• the city in [] is where we’ll spend the night
• “check it” or “walk around” usually just means I’m not sure what we’ll do
• we might spend the night on the Aran Islands instead of Galway
• what we’ll do each day is flex, I’m just trying to get an idea. some days are empty.
• I’ll stay in London a couple days after she leaves, missing her and visiting Hampton Court and Hever Castle. Then I’ll fly to Venice, where I hope my friend Debra will join me in visiting Venice, Florence and Rome.

Previously... 3.22.10

03/22/2010 Slight change in plans

Hannah and I spent most of spring break at my mom’s house.

We were sitting around one day, talking. I think my mom was asking Hannah about the Grandpa Trip and Hannah surprised me by saying she was afraid of the Grandpa Trip and didn’t know if she wanted to go.

I really shouldn’t have been surprised. Here I am planning this big trip that seems like a big deal to me and I haven’t even thought of how it might seem to a not quite 17 year old who has hardly ever been away from home. And whose biggest city visited so far is Kansas City, MO.

She thinks she’ll be too homesick. It’s true she gets homesick after just a couple days (but she’s held up against it for a week of camp several times), and our trip was adding up to several weeks.

I let her know I didn’t expect her to do anything she didn’t want to, and that maybe we could cut things short and just see the places she’s really excited about. She said she didn’t know, she didn’t want to not go but she didn’t want to be there and be miserable.

Later, she told me she had thought it over and was really up for the whole thing, but I’m not so sure now. As selfish and travel hungry as I am, I don’t want Hannah’s first trip abroad to turn into a nightmare for her so she’ll never want to travel again. So I’ve been thinking about places we can leave out.

It’s not really hard to think of the first few places to cut. There are plenty of places I put on the list that Hannah really couldn’t care less about. The entire country of Wales for example. The Lake District and the home of Dorothy and William Wordsworth. That would bore her as much as it thrilled me. We can leave off New York, especially since I’ll be going next month. Hannah wasn’t really interested in anything except seeing ‘The Daily Show’ taping anyway.

After that there’s still things that we could leave out - Paris, Florence, even Venice. Or Hannah could leave from London to go back home and I could travel to Paris and Italy on my own. There are plenty of possibilities and plenty of time to adjust the plans and make up our minds. Hannah will get at least two more lovely trips before we go - this June to DC to see Joel, and Disneyworld right after Thanksgiving. Chances are we’ll go back to Mexico before the Grandpa Trip as well. And she’ll be older. It’s a year and half till we’d go and that’s a lot of time for a teenager.

So. Old plan, out. New plan, being formed. But no worries - it’s kind of like getting to plan a whole new trip. Planning a trip is the next best thing to taking a trip.

Previously... 2.18.10

On the old blog I have made a few posts that I'm going to move over here, starting with this one...

02/18/2010 The Grandpa Trip

I want to talk about the Grandpa Trip, but before I do, I need to sum up what the Grandpa Trip is. So here goes:

I started dreaming about going to Europe when I was in grade school. It took me around 30 years to get there but eventually I did, in 2007. I spent 3 weeks, mostly on my own, in England, Paris and Italy. Best Time Ever.

But I always wanted to go. I knew that travel like that would change me and I wanted to experience that change. And since I’m her mother, I wanted Hannah to experience that, as well. And soon. What if those changes could happen while she was still in her teens. When my dad passed away I knew that some part of my inheritance was to go for that trip, as a graduation gift to Hannah from her Grandpa, that he wasn’t able to give her himself. Why do I get to go along? Well because I’m her momma. And I’m matching the funds so we can stay away so long.

It’s Hannah’s graduation present, but it’s also her grown up present. For all the many things she’s learned since she got here. How to talk, walk, hold a fork, ski down a mountain, manage blood sugars - all that she’s done. I’m proud of her and want some kind of grand gesture to say good job and keep on because look how amazing the world can be.

She graduates in May of 2011. Since she has such a bad time with the heat, we’re going to hold off and go at the end of summer, also avoiding peak season in some places. Hannah will skip her first semester of college, but I think that will be ok. I skipped my first semester and still got my degree. My brother skipped his first semester and has an MBA. So she’ll still go back to school and stick with it. Besides, after she’s 19 she’ll need to be a student to get health care and live, so I’m not worried that she won’t start if she doesn’t start on time. Better late than never. I subscribe to that.

So here’s the plan.
Before I drag the girl to other countries, I thought it would be good to show her New York, NY first. That way her first giant city is still in America, and she can see some of the wonders of her own country. We’re planning to see all the sites, be at a taping of the Daily Show, and visit a lot of very good old friends.
From there we fly to Dublin and make a loop around the west and south. On to Scotland. Edinburgh and the highlands. Across Hadrians’s Wall to the Lake District and on to Wales. Then England’s Salisbury Plane. Followed by Chichester, the official town of Miss Jen and then London.

Now that, just that on it’s own is an incredible trip, right? Of course right. But we’re not stopping there. Next we’re taking the chunnel to Paris for just two or three nights. To see the hilights. To visit Versailles. And to take the Henry Miller walk. We want to eat a sandwich between Notre Dame and the Seine. And I’ve wanted to check out Versailles for a long time. I don’t even care if I go in, I don’t think, I just want to tour the gardens and the petite trianon and the little town. so crazy. I can’t wait to see it. I’ll make Hannah visit the Orsay and the Louvre and then she’ll ace Art History when she comes back.

From Paris we fly to Italy, but I don’t know in what order. Florence. Venice. Rome. It depends on if we’re going home from Italy, or going on to Greece. This is the tricky bit. We want to go to Greece but a. don’t know if we’ll have the money and b. don’t know how long we can enjoy being away from home and stuck together. It’s possible our friend Joel will meet us in Greece and let us stay in his swanky but good deal resorts. That could really rock in Greece. I want to go to Athens, Delphi, Crete and Santorinni. Right now we’re in wait and see mode about that last link of the journey.

And that’s it. It might already be too much, but it’s just a plan at this point. changes are easy to make. I am so excited. I want to talk about it all the time. I like talking about what I’m going to see, choosing hotels, what I’m going to take and what I’m going to pack it in how we’re going to get from place to place… Planning a trip is the second best thing to going on a trip. Only about 17 more months. that’s really not so long when you’re 43.

So this is the Grandpa Trip. Maybe a dorky thing to call it, but I wanted to call it something and since he’s basically making it happen, it seemed fitting. I like it. I hope you’ll like me talking about it too much!

I figured it out!

Watch "Bircham Park has flodded." on YouTube

you know not all of google's products are as well integrated as they should be

I just posted something to the wrong blog.

48 days

there are now only 48 days until H and i take off on our big adventure.

after dealinf with the unreliability of tumblr im more and more thinking this is where ill keep our travel blog. in fact im thinking to just go all google and upload my photos to picassa instead of flickr. that seems kinda crazy but it might just be so much simpler. using google+ also seems way easier than using facebook but i dont really expect a lot of people will be on google+ by then.

one thing about tumblr though is it automagically fixed my capitalization and punctuation. maybe i need a better keyboard.

trial post

im checking this out