Preliminary Itinerary

I've heard that for a lot of people, the planning of a trip is almost as (or even more) enjoyable than actually taking the trip.  While, maybe that'd be the case for me if I actually had a lot of time to plan... but backpacking is a bit different than vacationing, for one, and two, I think the most "planning" I can do at this point is just try and create a basic route to follow.

Below is what I've come up with so far. 

Will it change?  Duh.  Not only is it super bare-bones at this point (I'll probably end up cutting through some small towns I've never know existed before), but I'm sure it also includes way too many spots for me to feasibly hit [though you should've seen my first first draft...].  And I've no idea whether I'll like a place so much I want to stay for a week, or hate a place and be on the first train out after not even a day.  Plus, I'm still crossing my fingers that I meet cool people to hang with- who'll no doubt influence my route as well. 
But are these the places my brain believes I can (and want to) make it to in ~9 weeks?  Yup.

(By the way, dates are totally approximate once I leave Israel.)


Israel
April 1-14

>Negev (Desert) Region
-Masada
-Ein Gedi
-Dead Sea
-Mitzpe Ramon
>Eilat
>Petra (technically in Jordan- I've got to see if I've got the time/funds to visit a wonder of the ancient world for a few days)
>back north to say goodbye if I have time?


Europe: April 14-June 6

Greece
April 14-17?

>Athens
-day trip to Mycenae?

Italy
April 17-May 4?

>Rome
-be there on April 21st for its b-day celebration?
>Naples (yes Mom, I'm still planning on going.  I'll try to find a guy to travel with...)
-Pompeii
-grotto azzurra
>Florence
-trips to Pisa for the tower and Cinque Terre for the view
>Bologna
>Venice


Germany
May 4-16?

>Munich
>Prague?  It's the most interesting thing between the two German cities, so I may have to pop over to the Czech Republic for a bit.
>Berlin
>Cologne
>Frankfurt or Black Forest or Geneva (Switzerland) or Aosta Valley (Italy) <-- clearly having some issues making up my mind... I know I just need to go south from Cologne

France
May 16-June 3?

>Cannes
-Film Festival May 15-26 <-- wierdly enough, this event has become what I'm orienting my whole trip around... not sure why, but ever since I realized I could get there timing-wise, it's become non-negotiable.  It also help that Cannes is located on the beaches in the south of France.  AND that I can see some of the premieres for free.
[Slight topic deviation: I've developed a small goal of meeting an actor/producer/director/etc. who I can then entice into inviting me to a VIP-only movie premiere.  I'll make sure to update the blog should any progress with that occur....]
>Nice, Marseilles, other beach towns in southern France
[>Biarritz or Bordeaux or Normandy if I find myself with some spare time?]
>Tours
>Paris (and Versailles)

Netherlands
June 3-6

•Amsterdam


So my Europe route is sort of zig-zagging its way up through Italy, looping around Germany (possibly detouring into the Czech Republic), and then cutting down across the south of France, up to Paris, and finally ending in Amsterdam.  Definitely a bit bizzare and not at all what I'd have thought I'd be doing even a few months ago.  But I always wanted to go through Italy... and I met a lot of Germans, so Germany had to be included.... then I learned about the Cannes Film Fest and had already bought my ticket out of Amsterdam, so there you have it.

And while I'm trying to sound all professional and rational about this thing, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  Yay!

xoxo, Cleome

The Big Intro to Israel Post

Hello there!  It's been a little while since I last posted, and I've finally gotten a good chunk of time to sit down and write, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. 

I left for Israel a week from today  (though technically I've only physically been in Israel for five and a half days, thanks to an amazingly long 19.5 hours of travel time between home and here...) and have experienced a lot of newness in these past seven days.  But let's start at the very beginning.  It's a very good place to start....


Flights and Firsts
So, like I said, it took me 19.5 hours (three different flights) from taking off in Minneapolis to touch down in Israel. I left MN late morning on my first flight and arrived in Newark, NY mid-afternoon.  After waiting a few hours in the airport, I boarded the airplane that would jet me away from the US, over the Pacific, and allow me to step foot for the first time ever on another continent. <- That flight was the longest one I've ever been on- seven hours.  I flew on SAS, a Scandinavian airline, and was quite impressed by their level of service.  Not only did they show recently released movies [I got to watch Argo, what what], but they actually served MEALS on the plane.  Free of charge.  And they came in the most adorable little portion-sized containers.  I was so awed I took a picture, haha.

Although that second flight was great in many ways, it wasn't my favorite simply because
1) It was a "red eye" flight, but I couldn't sleep.
2) There was a freaky amount of turbulence as we were exactly in the middle of our trip aka over the ocean.  I won't deny that images of a watery grave briefly flitted past my eyes before I shut them out and mentally chanted think positively over and over again.
3) We changed what felt like a million time zones in those seven hours, and so by the time we arrived in Copenhagen it was 7am in Denmark, while my body still thought it was 1am.  After zooming through the cute and sleepy Copenhagen airport [they have hardwood floors, open lounge areas, inviting colors, and a little mermaid statue- how much more adorable can it get?] to find the gate for my third and final flight, I shlumped over and blearily stared at passersby through half-closed lids.  Yeah, I felt pretty gross at that point compared to all the sharp-looking European travelers.  And
4) I was located in the back of this huge airplane, in the middle row of three seats, and I just had to be put with this older guy who (even with the empty seat between us) had stinky farts.  Not very conducive for trying to sleep....

My last flight was about four hours and landed me in Tel Aviv around 2:30pm Israel time on Sunday.  Luckily the passport control guys didn't give me too much grief and I was riding in a shared taxi to Jerusalem half an hour later.  I arrived at the Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem- recommended to me by the GoEco project- a bit before 5pm and immediately took a shower and tried to sleep.  Key word: tried.  I was physically exhausted, having at that point slept only about four hours of the past 36, but mentally I couldn't quiet down.  I think I fell into a restless sleep around 9pm that night, but certainly woke up the next morning still feeling tired.


Orientation in the Old City
Monday was a jam-packed day. 

It began with a two hour meeting in the hostel with GoEco (the volunteer agency) representatives.  They gave myself and two other soon-to-be-volunteers [we were all leaving for different projects, however] an explanation of our volunteering projects and some basic information about Israel. Then one of them, Yan, acted as our tour guide for the rest of the day.

First, we explored and had lunch in the major Jerusalem marketplace [he managed to get us millions of free samples of cultural dishes by explaining in Hebrew to the vendors that we were foreigners and had no idea what any of the dishes were] before heading out to Jaffa Gate to take part in a free tour of the Old City.  [The term Old City in any area refers to the location where buildings, monuments and historical places built hundreds of years ago remain intact and are still used/inhabited by people today.  However, the Old City in Jerusalem is one of the most well-known as it contains many incredibly important religious sites.]

I was extremely awed on our walk through the Old City.  We hit all four quarters (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian) and our guide was quite knowledgeable about the history of each quarter and their development.  It was amazing to think that we were walking through streets and archways that had been there and seen by people for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.  And to just actually be in this place I'd heard about for so long felt incredibly unreal.  I mean, it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I was literally standing 100 feet away from the Western Wall.  Wow. 

Since the free tour was a general overview of the Old City but didn't actually take us into buildings, once it was over Yan guided our volunteer group back to a couple of impressive sites.  We watched the sun set while standing on the top of the Austrian Hospice, taking in the scenic view of the entire Old City; we walked through the [amazingly unpopulated] Church of the Holy Sepulchre once darkness had fallen, and then window-shopped in the new mall outside the Old City on our way to dinner.  After dinner (my first authentic Israeli hummus experience!) we explored a few more buildings that had nice views (including one incredibly swanky hotel that impressed me almost as much as the Old City had, haha) and then headed back to the hostel to sleep.

Tuesday was the day I needed to catch my bus to Nazareth to actually begin volunteering, but that wasn't until 4pm, so I had a bit more time to wander around Jerusalem.  I went out with Antonia, the girl volunteer I'd hung with the day before, and we saw the Western Wall up close (I did indeed put a piece of paper with a wish on it into an unused crack in the wall).  We also walked up to the Dome of the Rock (an extremely holy Islamic site) and marveled at the detail and gorgeousness of the mosque.  Finally the time to head to the bus station rolled around, and after a bit of messing around with a temperamental ticket machine, I was on my way. 


Finding Fauzi Azar
I sat next to a very... talkative... guy on the bus who also happened to be going to the Fauzi Azar Inn.  He came in handy, though, when asking for directions [we arrived at night and the Inn is tucked away in a part of the Old City that takes some maneuvering to get to] and in making me feel a bit more secure when hiking past groups of smoking guys in black leather jackets.  But finally we found it, and I had arrived to the place I'm going to be calling home for the next two months!

[I'll be posting specifically about the Fauzi and my duties in another entry very soon!]

I met the other three volunteers that I'll be working with for the next few weeks at least (since two are leaving in a few weeks and new people may be showing up):
Pat- extremely sociable Australian guy working here for his summer break.
Jess- another girl taking a gap year!  She's from London and will spending eight months (until August) in Israel doing a variety of activities.  Once she's done volunteering at the Fauzi she's heading to a kibbutz for five months.  You can bet I'm going to be visiting her.
Mike- Canadian, eh?  ...Sorry, he's taking some time off from studying software engineering to travel and has a bunch of short-term volunteer gigs lined up in various parts of Israel. 
(Oh, and there's also a long-term volunteer lady, Linda, who gives all the guided tours.  But she's pretty much a permanent fixture as she's been here for four years.)

Pat and Jess have both been here for roughly a month and only have a few weeks left, while Mike will be leaving only two weeks before I am.  I really like them all, and the vibe is great because there's enough of us that we won't get sick of each other too soon, but not too many that it's hard to get to know everyone.  Though I do hope that when Pat and Jess leave, other volunteers show up.  I like you Mike, but some new blood potential friends would also be nice.

The night I arrived was a first-ever movie night, so I dropped my backpack off at the volunteer apartment (about 20 feet up the street) and went back to watch Life of Pi.  After the movie I went out for a late-night snack with Pat, Mike, two German guests, and a local named Fadi.  The food was good, but I was pretty much falling asleep at the table, so it was relieving to just head back to the apartment and go to bed finally at 2am.


Navigating Nazareth   
Wednesday began with free breakfast at the Fauzi and then a guided tour of the Old City.  It was a great, alternative tour that ignored the holy places (since you can do that on your own) and instead focused on getting to know the locals and the back roads of Nazareth.  It was a great introduction to this city I'm going to be based in for the next while.  I then grabbed lunch with Mike, hung out and explored the city some more with Jess, and had the most touching hospitality experience I've felt in a while. 

A local Christian Arabic family that Mike and Pat had met earlier had invited them to dinner, and since I was free, both I and a Fauzi guest Jackie were invited along.  However, when we got to the family's house after running through the winding alleyways in the pouring rain, we discovered that the electricity in their area was completely out.  No lights, no heat, no nothing.  Certainly no cooking, we surmised [<- like my word choice, Pat&Mike?].  But the family surprised us, and after an hour of sitting in the candle-lit living room exchanging broken English and Arabic talking with the daughters Ruth and Jessica, we were informed dinner was ready and we were ushered into the kitchen. 

An amazing spread of traditional Arabic food lay on the table before us.  The four of us sat down with Ruth and the dad, Adell, and had a wonderful meal highlighted by lamb, rice with a special yogurt sauce, and Italian champagne.  The food was very tasty (and they managed to magically heat it somehow- candles?), but there were about a million dishes and each was heaped onto our plates in such great quantities that I couldn't even finish half of it.  After dinner the electricity came back on (of course) and we moved back to the living room to join the rest of the family (mom, brother, Jessica and fiance) in smoking hookah (first time for me!) and listening to music.  And when we finally excused ourselves after lavishing thanks upon the family, the brother insisted I take the sweatshirt of his I'd been wearing for warmth as a parting gift.  To be honest, I'm a little wary that somehow I've bound myself to a romantic obligation... but I'll admit its oversizedness had come in handy as a makeshift tent-like changing room, as there is no real privacy in our tiny volunteer apartment.  Alla in all, I was incredibly touched by their generosity in feeding four guests (two of which had been perfect strangers before that meal) in the middle of a power outage.  And we have plans to go back soon and learn how to make authentic felafel, so yay!  Free food and good company is always something to look forward to.


Experiencing Everyday Events enjoying the alliteration of the section titles?
Thursday I was shadowing Jess on the afternoon shift, but beforehand we walked up a scenic hill named Mount Precipice and on the way to the Inn stopped by a small cafe for Qatayaf (a traditional Ramadan sweet- essentially a small pancake filled with either soft cheese or walnuts, fried, and then drizzled in syrup.  As delicious as they sound).  We were kept at the Inn for a while after our shift had technically ended, so just came back to the apartment and slept after.

Friday I attempted to find the Jesus Trail (a hiking trail that starts at the Fauzi- more on that in the next blog post!) and failed dismally- got a good run in anyway, though.  Then half slept half read in the sun, and was on evening shift with Mike.  Bed.

Today I hiked the Jesus Trail with Pat and Mike and five Fauzi guests.  Luckily we didn't get lost, as Pat is an expert Jesus Trail navigator.  The first leg takes roughly four hours to walk, and really is pretty gorgeous once you get past the highway.  We hitched back to Nazareth (a somewhat depressing only 15 minutes away by car) and grabbed a late lunch before coming back home to chill.

I can't believe I just used the word "home" so naturally.  I must really feel pretty comfortable here.

Tonight we're heading out to a local restaurant to see some sort of music.  Maybe dancing will be involved?  Whatever it is, should be interesting. 

Off to find Mike and ask him about that stir fry he's supposedly making....

xoxo, Cleome

Coming Up Next

My plans for the rest of my "walkabout" have changed a lot since a few weeks ago, not to mention last fall before I'd even embarked on the first part of it.

[I just went back and reread my predicted plans for the year... wow have those been tweaked a lot.]

I got back from Costa Rica at the beginning of January and set a goal for myself to be off on the next part of my adventure by the beginning of February.  I gave myself a month to relax, be at home, have parents, see friends and figure out what the heck I was going to do next.  And where I was going to go.  And for how long. <- I had a lot to figure out.


Wait, Cleome, I thought you were going to Europe for four months to backpack around?  Yeah, let me finish.  As I was saying, I'd been thinking hard about my next steps, and for a multitude of reasons ended up coming to the conclusion that I actually didn't want to aimlessly backpack around Europe for that long of a time.  Because, like:
1) It's still cold in much of Europe at this time of year. 
2) The tourist Schengen Visa is only good for three months out of any six month period (and I don't want to try and jilt the authorities, thereby risking never being allowed into the EU for the rest of my life).  And the visa includes most of the countries I actually want to travel through.
3) Thanks to actually having traveling experience now (yay!), I know that straight traveling for one month, let alone four, is exhausting.  AND
4) Europe is ridiculously expensive.  More than I was originally imagining.  I'm a soon-to-be poor college student- I can't be going into debt before starting school.


So I was pretty jittery for a while, as I had no real idea of where to even start now that my semi-solid plans for February-May were out.  You'd be surprised how hard it is to decide on a course of action when you can do essentially whatever you want.  It'd be great to use the time I have to work on maintaining my French or Spanish, or participate in something that might serve to guide me/provide me with experience for a future career path [not that I have any idea what that would be], but....  Honestly, when you really have no limitations, there are about a jillion amazing things you could do.  And you don't want to squander this awesome opportunity by choosing something stupid, or uninteresting, or pointless, or or or

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, but as you may be able to tell, I was a bit fragile concerning my future plans for a while.  However I managed to calm down and reason rationally with myself, and figured out a few things concerning what I did want to happen on the next part of my year off:

• I realized I wanted to do another volunteering project for at least part of the rest of year.  I just like feeling useful and helping others.  But while an organization in Ghana serving to educate the local population about HIV/AIDS and trying to prevent the spread of the disease sounds incredible [trust me, I looked it up], I don't feel like I necessarily have to be volunteering in a super intense situation trying to save lives to feel successful.  I really loved the type of volunteering I did at the orphanage- helping out but also being able to have my own life in the community.  (Also, I'm currently done working with children.  I'll be doing that this summer as well and I just need a break.)
• I am really interested in going to a country where the primary language is not English.  Or another language is spoken prominently, at least.
• Ideally, I'd go somewhere that is still close to Europe, so I could maybe travel there after volunteering.
• And I didn't want it ("it" being the flight, program, living costs, etc.) to be extraordinarily expensive.

Somehow [don't ask me how], this all lead me to determining a location: Israel!  Now I just had to find a program that was affordable, open to 18-year olds, and sounded interesting....

Idea 1: Eilat Hotel Volunteer

Summary: A 5-month program where I'd live/work in a hotel in a southern resort city with a bunch of other volunteers from all over.  Hebrew lessons would be included, as well as a public transportation pass.  

I quickly ditched this idea as a 5-month long commitment was just too limiting for me.

Idea/Attempt 2: Kibbutz Volunteer

Haha, yes, "attempt" is the key word here.  This plan was almost a go, until about two weeks into the process of applying....  

A kibbutz is a uniquely Israeli socialist-type community (all members work for the community itself).  Historically agriculturally-based, many kibbutzim have branched out into tourism and industrial work.  But the majority accept volunteers for 2-6 months at a time simply because there are more jobs than members available to do them.  Living there while working is free (room and board all payed for), but you make no money and the work is often quite demanding, with long hours and can often be tedious [for example, stuffing pillows in a hot, windowless factory for eight hours a day?  No thanks].   But there are always lots of volunteers who come from all over.  Plus the members of the kibbutz are more often than not pretty interesting.  It's supposed to be hard work, a bit isolated, but a lot of fun, too.

Anyway, after sending in all my forms in record time (and my full placement payment), they informed me that I was apparently ineligible for the program.  Because of my age: 18.5 instead of 19.  Get this- all kibbutzim welcome volunteers aged 18-35, except for Americans and Canadians.  WE have to be 19 in order to join.  

Anyway, after some frustrating back and forth with the Israeli office leader (who is very firm in her "no exceptions" rule), it became apparent that being a kibbutz volunteer just wasn't going to work out right now.  Which maybe was for the best, as it required me to step back, leading me to-

WHAT I'LL ACTUALLY BE DOING.  (Just got confirmation!)

Idea 3: Ecotourism Development in Nazareth
Third time's the charm, huh?

I'm going to be volunteering at the Fauzi Azar Inn for two months, beginning February 2nd. 

The Fauzi Azar Inn is a beautiful 200 year old Arab mansion that was converted into an inn in 2005. The Fauzi Azar Inn promotes ecotourism in Nazareth and works with the community to contribute to its development in various areas. The inn uses local resources to create new work places, to raise the self- image of the local community, and to encourage economic growth while preserving the universal values of natural and cultural preservation. The aim is to introduce in Nazareth, which is the largest Arab city in Israel, a new model of tourism and thus "bridge the gap" between Arabs and Jews. At the same time the Inn is creating a model for increased tourism along the Israel National Trail (Shvil Israel) and the recently completed Jesus Trail in order to promote both trails and the corresponding economic potential.

Source

Volunteering duties include hosting guests and reception work, working in the kitchen, maintaining hiking trails, and guiding tours of the old city of Nazareth.  I'll be sharing a nearby apartment with the other volunteers (three others, I think?), and have all the time when I'm not working to explore the city of Nazareth, not to mention the rest of Israel.

Nazareth appears to be a very interesting part of Israel.  It is located in Northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee, and is supposed to be very beautiful.  The city contains the largest population of Arabs (both Christian and Muslim) in the country, yet there is still a Jewish presence in the north of the city, which should make for a complex melting pot of cultures, opinions, and ideas.  

Yeah, I'm going to work in a renovated mansion, bridge the gap between cultures, and meet a bunch of cool travelers.  No biggie.

After

After volunteering through the end of March, I'll take some time to explore the parts of Israel I haven't gotten to yet (maybe hit up Egypt for a bit?) and then fly over to Western Europe [finally the European aspect of my trip comes into play].  I'm free until the beginning of June, at which time I need to come back in order to work over the summer as a camp counselor, so I could potentially be in Europe for six weeks or so.  Clearly the last few months of my free time need to be molded into shape a bit more, but there's plenty of time for that.

I'm just incredibly relieved to finally have a semblance of a plan for the rest of the year.

SO.  EXCITED.  And I should probably start getting all my crap together.

xoxo, Cleome 

Weekend #4: Montezuma [aka The Non-Existant Post]

I've written about this weekend in immaculate detail TWICE now.  And both times the posts magically deleted themselves.  Incredibly frustrating.  I know the third time's normally the charm, but I just can't.  

So I'm giving you a Cliff notes version instead.  [And maybe someday I'll come back and write the real thing. Or you can just fill in the blanks with your imagination.] 

Dates: November 2-4 
Place: Montezuma- small beach community on the Pacific side 
Story: 
Supposed to run a marathon, plans fall through, decide to go to Montezuma since Emma [other Hogarcito volunteer] and friends were. 

Continuing theme of transportation issues.  Involving three buses and a ferry this time.

Lindsay and Emma sick.  I share room with both.  Go to sleep Friday not sure if I'll wake up.

Wake up. 

Search for snorkeling tour.  Boats left at 9:00am, we asked at 9:30am.  Screwed.  Damn. 

Local man says he can take us snorkeling.  Falls through. 

Meet Ben from Texas. 

Local man says he can take us [now six with Ben and Emma's three friends] snorkeling.  Boat won't start. 

Pout. 

Visit waterfall by fording river and climbing through jungle.  Scenic. 

Jump off rocks into water.  Tarzan swing. 

[Insert witty bracketed comment here.] 

Meet Marcos and increase crew number to seven. 

Go to top of waterfall.  Swim. 

Lindsay is a daredevil. 

Lindsay Lindsay Lindsay. 

I'mobsessedwithLindsay. 

35-foot jump.  

Lindsay before jumping: So excited.

Me: I do not condone your actions. 

Lindsay after jumping: Ouch.

[And here.] 

Spotted- breathtaking view and monkeys. 

Dinner.  Nomnom. 

Ubiquitous night out.  Dancing. 

Unintentionally played hide and seek.  Where did everyone go? 

Bed. 

Lazy Sunday. 

Attempted beach run.  Hot & sharp rocks. Ouch. 

Transport home.  Problems.

Return late. 

Token sarcastic ending comment. 

Good time. 




xoxo, Cleome

Travel Tips I Picked Up, Take 1

• Take advantage of [but don't go overboard] on free food.  While traveling, unless you're in a home-stay with a predictable three meals/day schedule, there's often no way of knowing what or when your next meal will be.  For instance, in Monteverde the hostel provided breakfast for no fee.   While Lindsay took one approach and, as she calls it, "ate for hibernation," I went the other route and made myself a peanut butter & chocolate cereal sandwich for the road.  It came in handy.
• Eating out can get ridiculously expensive.  Then again, cooking takes time and energy.... 
• Alcohol is usually involved in meeting people.  Therefore, plan on drinking at any and all moments [and budget that into your expected spending]. 
• Most locals are quite nice and want to help travelers out.  I can't tell you how many times people have offered to guide us places upon being asked for directions, or how accommodating people can be if there's a problem.  Or just how thoughtful people can seem when you're overwhelmed in a foreign post office collecting a package, and they offer you a piece of candy because you look completely lost/bewildered [I know this goes against the whole "don't accept candy from strangers" wisdom, but different circumstances call for different types of advice]. 
• Bank schedules differ all over the place, so make sure you leave plenty of time to deal with money transactions that need to occur in a bank.  Luckily, most ATM's are 24 hours. 
• ALWAYS have your passport [or a copy] on you while traveling.  Very important.  You really don't want to spend a needless five hours in a police station trying to convince the officers that you're not here illegally- you just left your passport in your hostel. <- I´m not speaking from personal experience here, but I did have a close call in Puerto Viejo during my first weekend trip.  Luckily, the policeman glanced at Dean and Lindsay´s passports, and overlooked me.  I guess I just don´t have a face that screams "I´m a fugitive."  But seriously, I doubt getting deported is on anyone´s to do list.
• Reading generally deters people from trying to interact with you, so by all means do so if you really don´t want to be approached.  However, if you´re trying to meet people, a book could also be used as a tool, because you can set it down once you feel ready to begin socializing.
• Having no set plans generally leads to the best time traveling, experience-wise.  By not having a concrete schedule, you allow yourself to be more open and available to spontaneous opportunities that eventually make really good memories/travel stories.  Though doing a bit of research about the locations in which you will be stopping also helps for moments of boredom, or should other opportunities not surface.  [I think a large part of why I had no fun for my half-day in San Jose is due to the fact that I had no idea what there was to do there.  If I went now, I know to go visit the National Theater and the Gold Museum.]
• Taking the laces and soles out of wet tennis shoes helps them dry much faster than they would´ve otherwise.  Like, overnight.

Those are a few of the lessons I´ve learned/picked up/been shown.  Many more to ensue, I´m sure.

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