How I've Been Preparing (Part 1)

Though I don't leave for a while (through less than two months now!), I've already begun my preparations for venturing to Costa Rica.  Such measures include:


-Acquiring a base burn tan.
-Not screaming at every bug I see.  I've heard what we've got here are mini compared to what I'll find in Costa Rica.
-Reading books about traveling.

-Sleeping on a sheet-less mattress (admittedly due to laziness). <-- really annoys my mom, but I say it'll make sleeping in hostels seem like sleeping at home...
-Drowning all my food in hot sauce.  The best one by far is Cholula, by the way.
-Napping to test out which sleeping bag to bring.

I actually fell asleep.  Life gets exhausting.

-Practicing Spanish with any and everyone I come across.  Or at least attempting to.
-Listening to So Good by B.o.b.  He says "Senorita," so I consider it helpful for my language skills.

Now you know a little Spanish, too.


xoxo, Cleome

The Deets: Costa Rica

Pretty much all of my time spent in Costa Rica will involve volunteering.

I chose to volunteer for the first portion of my gap year, because I felt like 
1) I wanted to spend some significant time giving back (but in a really fun way, which is why I decided on a gorgeous location)
2) volunteering in a foreign country is a great way to begin meeting other travelers 
3) you can't aid sea turtle conservation too late into the year, since the turtles aren't physically present at that point, and 
4) by volunteering through a program, I won't be completely left to my own devices just yet (so it'll be a great way to ease into independent traveling).

I'll be volunteering through a program called Institute of Field Research and Expedition (IFRE).

IFRE is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Dallas, Texas, USA. We founded IFRE’s volunteer abroad program in 2005 after realizing the need for safe and affordable volunteer abroad programs. So far, nearly 3000 volunteers have participated in our meaningful volunteer programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

(Source) 

I chose IFRE for a few reasons.  Most importantly, they offered programs that fit my criteria- looked interesting, involved traveling, had a language component (either French or Spanish, since those are the two foreign languages I sort of know), were long term, and didn't cost a fortune to do.  Additionally, when I looked up reviews of different programs, it became apparent that some organizations were pretty sketchy/scam-like.  Luckily, IFRE's reviews sounded legit.  And when I contacted them, they've been very good about prompt communication and personalization of programs.  There of course were tons of other similar options, but I've been happy so far with how accommodating and helpful IFRE has been. 

Here is a closer look at what I'll be doing through IFRE in Costa Rica:
-I'll arrive in the middle of September, and take a boat to Pacuare Beach (on the Northeastern, Caribbean side) to work in sea turtle conservation for about one month.  At the time of my stay, Hawksbill and Green turtles will be the kinds I'll encounter.  

Yeah, Pacuare's the circled area.  

The living situation sounds sort of intense.  It's a pretty remote beach (you have to take a 30 min boat ride to get there, and that only comes twice a week), with sketchy electricity and no running water.  Apparently (hopefully) 10-15 other volunteers will be there at that point, so I'll have potential friends.  We'll be bunking together in rustic cabins with outdoor toilets, yay.  

Besides chatting it up with fellow travelers, volunteers work between four and eight hours each day.  The types of activities I'll be doing include: night patrols on the beach (mainly to keep poachers/predators away?), egg collection, releasing turtles, working in the rescue center, and other manual labor-type stuff that goes along with living on a remote beach.  Oh, and maybe I'll fit some relaxing into that schedule somewhere.  It is a beach after all....

-Then I'll move from saving turtles on the coast to a more centralized, inland location (Atenas, in the Alajuela region) to work in an orphanage for the remaining few months.

I'll be somewhere within that circle.

This time, I'll be living with a Costa Rican host family (!).  I get stuck with to have a few little brothers in my family there, so I probably won't miss my biological sibling too much- just kidding, Ash.  I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous about living with a family that's not my own.  But I'm excited as well; it'll be a great way to throw myself into the culture, language, and (hopefully) make some lasting connections.

Unlike the turtle project, I'll have a good amount of free time for those two months.  I'll be volunteering at the orphanage for only four hours a day, from 8:00-12:00 Monday through Friday.  I guess some time will be taken up by transportation (since the orphanage I'll be volunteering at is actually located in a neighboring village- a 40 min bus ride + a 20 min walk every day).  And I'm hoping to take some Spanish classes.  But otherwise I get the rest of the day to myself... right now I'm hoping I make some good friends that I can hang out with.  Plus I can always read and write and explore the town.

Right.  Now you know roughly as much about the first few months of my walkabout as I do.

xoxo, Cleome

BOOKED (and Bought!)

GUESS WHAT?

I BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO COSTA RICA TODAY.  IT'S OFFICIAL.  THIS TRIP IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN.


Wow, that feels really good to say type.  I'm still having some trouble believing that what I've planned out for this upcoming school year is actually going to occur, but booking this flight has certainly made it seem all the more tangible.  And now it feels like the summer is going by way too fast- September will be here before we know it!


I'll be flying out in the middle of September.  My flight leaves from Minnesota really early in the morning- like, 5:30 am early.  After registering for a frequent flyer number (I need to remember to do that!), I'll climb on with my backpack (see below) and sit on a 2.5 hour flight to Atlanta, GA.  I've got less than an hour layover there, so hopefully nothing goes wrong and my first flight isn't delayed... that could make for a very unfortunate situation.  Then I jump onto the second flight to San Jose!  I should be arriving right around lunchtime, and from there the rest of the day is mine.  The next morning I do have to get myself to the volunteer office early, though, because the bi-weekly boat to the project's location (a relatively isolated beach on the northeastern coast of Costa Rica) leaves at 7 am.  I can't miss it.  Apparently two Australian volunteers will also be heading out with me- hopefully I step off the boat having gained a couple of new friends.  That's the dream, anyway.


And yeah, I also bought what will be my new best friend: a backpack!  The brand/style is the Deuter Act  Lite 45+10 SL (meaning it can carry up to 55L of volume).  I chose it because out of the five backpacks I tried on, it felt the best when stuffed with 20 pounds.  And it's made to conform to a women's shape.  And I can (hopefully) stow it as a carry-on.  Plus, it has an adjustable torso length, which is really helpful seeing as my torso length is apparently XS (thanks mom!) and not too many packs come in that size option.  Also, it's not appallingly expensive.

My baby for the next year!

I didn't choose that green color-scheme though.  "Pine/Moss" is only style they've got.


xoxo, Cleome

Affording the Walkabout

I'm really pretty fortunate that I'm able to take a gap year.  


I'm glad that my parents are supportive, that K-Zoo (cute nickname for Kalamazoo College, duh) accepted my deferral, and that programs exist for me to take part in and travel with.


But mostly I'm thankful I had a really rich great-grandpa.  Who decided to give his great-grandkids some money.  He's the real person making this all possible.


Now don't get the wrong idea.  I'm actually not too obsessed with money.  Or that big into shopping/mass consumerism.  And my family is certainly not considered wealthy- we're solidly middle-class.  However, my dad's mom's dad just happened to own a paper mill for a while, and the final effects of that are about to show up.  Once I turn 18 (on Sunday!), I'll be inheriting a little more than $10,000.  To do whatever I want with.  So bomb.


So, obviously, I'll be taking that money and sticking it straight into the "Ensure Cleome has the Money to Buy Food in Europe" fund.  Feel free to donate yourself!  Every little bit helps.


While I'd love to encourage everyone graduating high school (or college, for that matter) to take some time off before heading to college/out on a career path, I know that's just not [monetarily] feasible for a lot of people.  Plus, I realize a large section of the population would see using a large, and free, chunk of change to finance a year of traveling as:
a.) stupid
b.) wasteful
c.) irresponsible
d.) crazy, or
e.) all of the above


And I know college costs an arm and a leg these days.  I'm fully aware of it.  An extra grand (or 10) would definitely come in handy for financing my secondary education.  But I've come to the conclusion that a year of adventure is going to be worth more to me than a slightly easier time paying for college.  Which is certainly a personal decision that other people may not agree with.  Too bad, though, 'cause it's my life.


It's not just the money I'm receiving on my 18th birthday that is going toward my gap year.  I've been working for the last three summers (at a summer camp and the State Fair) with saving up for traveling as my goal.  Plus there's the odd baby- or cat-sitting job over the year to provide a bit of income flow.  Oh, and I did pretty well for myself at my grad party, which reminds me.... 

Along with the generosity of my great-grandpa, tons of other people have contributed to making my gap year possible.  These include family, friends, neighbors, teachers, family friends, and many others.   Not all of the donations have been money.  I'm including support, books, conversations, and good vibes as contributions, also.  So thanks you guys.  I really appreciate it all.


However much I like them, though, well-wishes don't quite pay for plane tickets....


xoxo, Cleome

Travel Background

I like to consider myself adventurous.  Someone who enjoys exploring.  A risk-taker.  A traveler.

But I've only ever truly visited about 10 states (mostly ones along the Mississippi River, with a few coastal ones thrown in for good measure).  Which leaves, like, 40 that I've never really been to.  Also, I've never seen the majority of the United States national monuments.  My sightseeing has never taken me to Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Washington D.C., Mount Rushmore, view the Redwood or Sequoia trees, etc.  You get the picture.

A blank map.  Pretty indicative of how much I know about the majority of the states.

And I should probably admit I've never been overseas.  My "countries visited" counter has a grand total of three- the US, Canada, and Mexico.  And I think my Canadian travels consisted of an illegal step over an invisible line in the very northernmost edge of Minnesota....


So why do I call myself a traveler?  Slash why am I embarking on this crazy gap year and expecting to survive?


Because of the story behind these pictures.

The above photos were taken in Mexico circa 2002, when my parents moved our family to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato for 18 months.  I was seven and a half when we left, and nine when we returned (meaning I attended half of second grade and all of third grade in Mexico).


We moved down there to partake in what my parents dubbed our "family sabbatical."  Basically, they were tired of the harried pace of life in the US, wanted an extended period of intense family bonding before the kids got too old, and were looking for an adventure.  My mom wrote a book about the experience called The Family Sabbatical Handbook; The Budget Guide to Living Abroad with Your Children.  <--- shameless plug


Though many people find this hard to believe (ahem), I did become fluent in Spanish after about 6 months into the trip.  I mean, I had to be.  Someone in our family needed to know the language, and it certainly wasn't going to be my parents (though to their credit they tried really hard), or my 2-year-old brother who had just learned English.  My family also settled into a decidedly Mexicano way of life, and became content with simply walking around, reading, people-watching, going to parks, and basically just living in the moment.


Our time spent in Mexico was amazing.  There's simply no other way to describe it.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that still affects me, and I'm so grateful I was able to experience it.  Plus, I attribute my desire for taking a year off and traveling to the sabbatical.  It imparted in me a love of exploring and experiencing new places, cultures, and languages, and fostered independence and self-confidence even at seven years old.  


So that's why I'm optimistic about my chances of survival.  If I can flourish in Mexico as a kid, I can at the very least get by traveling through Latin America and Europe (right?).  


And I'm so excited to see what this next adventure brings! 

xoxo, Cleome

College?

Wait, I'm confused, are you going to college?  And how does that work with this whole "taking time off" thing?  

Bet you've thought that at least once.  Or you have now.


The rumors are true, though- I will be attending college beginning Fall 2013.  And I'm able to do that because I went through the same grueling process as millions of other college-bound students these past couple years.  You know, the grade-OCDing-extra-curricular-stocking-college-book-scanning-tour-taking-application-filling-out-general-stress-inducing process.

Pretty representative of  many of my nights.

This is what my college decision ended up looking like:
I applied to (too many) colleges and got into a bunch of them, but still couldn't really decide where I wanted to go.  Luckily I then received the financial aid packages, which really helped narrow down my options (ha).  After completing a brutal week-long road trip with my dad to the final two college options (embarked upon only one week before May 1, decision day), I ended up choosing Kalamazoo College in Michigan.   

Which I suppose I'm decently happy with.  It's not my dream school, but it seems like a good school that I could be content at, which I guess counts for something.  And then I wrote them a letter outlining my gap year and requesting deferred enrollment, which they granted. 


Anyway, it was a somewhat disillusioning, lackluster experience.  To be honest, it felt like a letdown.   College had been built up for me for so long in high school, and I pretty much worked my ass off for it (grade-wise).  To come away with what felt like a result not worthy of the effort I put in was really frustrating.  But while this may sound bitter, I've generally come to terms with it.  While I don't think there is a "perfect college" out there for me, I do think that any college can be just as good a fit as any other one.  I mean, the college you choose is important, definitely, but you can have a great experience anywhere, so long as you have the right attitude about it.  Which is something I'm sure my gap year will reinforce again and again, about life in general.  


Long story short, I will be attending college.  Just not right out of high school.


Also, let me rant a bit.  College is appallingly expensive these days.  And the cost is only going to increase.  A person's senior year may end up costing 15-20% more than their freshman year (Source).  I'm still so undecided in what I really want to study; I don't want to go to college only to waste a few years and a ton of dough before I figure out why I'm there.  So embarking on a gap year will most likely be just as helpful for figuring out my interests as a year of college, if not more so.  And just more fun and exciting (in my opinion). 

Plus kids who take time off generally perform better than their peers who neglected to.  Definitely used that reason to get permission to defer my enrollment at Kalamazoo. 


xoxo, Cleome

Why a Gap Year?

I would think that one of the first things you'd ask someone who's taking time off is "Why?"


Actually, I know so.  Because I get that question a lot.  It's definitely in the top five three.


Here are the various reasons why I elected to take a gap year (in no particular order):


-I needed a break from school.  I'd worked ridiculously hard in [high] school for the past however many years, and I felt like I deserved a hiatus.  Don't want to burn out.
-With the above reason, I'd learned a lot in school, but probably most significantly how to be a good student.  I'd managed to excel at it, but there's more to life than writing decent papers and taking tests.  I need to learn some "real world" skillz.
-My parents really pushed for it.  Crazy I know.  Pretty much the opposite of what most people say their parents would do.  But I attribute that to the fact that both my parents took time off from school themselves, are very big on traveling (we took a family sabbatical to Mexico when I was seven), and are just pretty cool old people.
-I wanted to travel.  And put some of my [barely existent] language skills to use.
-I felt the need to definitively leave my family, and become a capable, independent human being.  The reason my blog is called She Walks About is because I'm partially thinking of this year as being my walkabout.  Like the Aboriginal males in Australia who would leave their homes and head out on a walkabout into the bush to transition from boys to men.  Except for the turning into a man part.  This is a pivotal moment for my self-growth and exploration.  
-College is ridiculously expensive.  And since I have no idea what I want to go into right now, it makes no sense to waste a few years and hundreds of thousands of dollars before figuring that out.  Plus, there's evidence that kids who take gap years are more successful than their peers when they go back to school. 
-Up until now, I've pretty much simply done what people have told me to.  Met others' expectations.  I need to learn how to make my own goals and complete them.
-Volunteering always appealed to me, but I never had enough time to do anything that left me really fulfilled.  I wanted to give back in a more significant way.
-I wanted to.  Plain and simple, a gap year sounded like fun.  I couldn't wait to have a whole year that was all my own, for me to go off and do something crazy that most people would only dream about.


And I'm sure there's a gajillion more reasons I'll end up thinking of.


xoxo, Cleome

The Grand Plan

So now that we've introduced ourselves, I may as well tell you why I even have this blog in the first place.


As was probably apparent from the first post, I will be taking a gap year beginning this coming September.  For those unfamiliar with what a gap year is, let me (errr, Wikipedia) quick define it for you:

A gap year is an expression associated with taking time out to travel between life stages. It is also known as a sabbatical, time off, time out and a year out, referring to a period of time (not necessarily 12 months) in which people disengage from curricular education and/or work and undertake activities such as travelling, volunteering or working abroad. Traditional gap years are among individuals who have ceased secondary education and intend to commence tertiary education.

(Source) 

Yep, that's pretty much exactly what I'll be doing.  

Without further ado, let me present the skeleton version of my gap year plans.  (Skeleton version because I honestly have no idea what will happen when I'm actually embroiled in these activities.  What is below is the best prediction I can come up with- essentially just places and a rough timeline.) 

September 2012

Leave around the 15th for my first destination- Costa Rica!  Begin volunteering.

October 2012
Costa Rica, volunteering.

November 2012
Costa Rica, volunteering.

December 2012
Volunteering until the middle of the month, and then a beach vacay with the family (who's coming down to visit!). 

January 2013
Back home to see people/relax/prepare for Europe. And set up a job for the summer.  Unfortunately I'll be returning from six months of glorious summer in the dead of winter... blech.

February 2013
Off to Europe!  I'll be intermixing backpacking/sightseeing with working on organic farms (WOOF).  Right now I'm thinking I'll be traveling primarily through France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.

March 2013
Europe....

April 2013
Europe....

May 2013
Europe....

June 2013
HOME.  Probably work a summer job until I leave for college (more on this later).


And that's the gist.


xoxo, Cleome