101 – Pilot

“Nothing feels more real than packed bags.”

I originally conceived the idea of this blog a year ago when I was considering an out of country move. I spent my entire summer searching sites at Starbucks about which countries were most welcoming to Americans. Turns out not many are. One program I found that I was actually eligible for was a Working Holiday Visa in New Zealand. Essentially, I just needed to be healthy, under 30, and not a criminal. Check, check, and check. This Visa would allow me to live and work in New Zealand for a year – and while I was there I was going to write this blog. Obviously this didn’t happen. I was missing one key ingredient to make such a drastic life alteration: Financial Freedom.

Car loan with negative equity. Credit Card debt. Leftover student loans from an unfinished communications degree. Verizon contract. You get the point. All of these chains preventing my plan from proceeding. I think most people are probably in this predicament as well. Some prefer it. I mean, it does feel good to have nice things. But I think for me, I’d rather be free. Completely, free. So my travel plans, and my writing experiment, were forced into the background while I attempted to achieve this newfound goal. Until now.

I am currently at the airport, but no I’m not off to New Zealand to live for a year. And no I still don’t think I’ve reached my ultimate goal of Financial Freedom. But that doesn’t mean our desires need remain dormant in the depths of our dreams. I’m getting off track here though. This post is meant to introduce my current travel itinerary, not talk about how I’m learning to uncover what makes me happy, or how we can all get to where we want to be with the proper planning, or how I believe everything in our lives, good or bad, can be traced back to decisions we’ve made at some point in time.

Nothing feels more real than a packed bag. Mine is sitting next to me right now. I got to the airport extra early, as usual, and now I wait in the terminal before take off. New Zealand was never my top travel destination, just an outlet for escape. I don’t want to see just one place. My top travel destination (and hopeful future residence) has always been Germany. That is where I’m heading now. After a quick stop in Dublin, Ireland, I’ll be making my way to Munich, and then to Berlin. I could tell you everything I plan to do, but thats boring. I’d rather wait and describe what I actually do. I want to write about how these life experiences make me feel and how they change my entire perspective of this planet. Or how they don’t. I want the ability to look back at this project in the future and instantly get transported in time. Everything I see and smell and taste and touch. Everyone I meet and everything I say.

I’m rambling again though. I’ve been planning this trip for over a year now and I don’t know if it’s fully hit me yet that I’m moments away from my greatest adventure ever. I’m probably going to cry. No, I’m definitely going to cry. But not yet. When I was in line waiting to check in, I overheard a group talking with Irish accents and I couldn’t stop smiling. It’s cheesy I know, but it felt awesome. And it was just a small taste of what is to come.

Bar was out of Stella and the other places were crowded so now I sit beer-less. Might go back and check out this place called Slapfish though. Saw they have a lobster roll. This is an airport so I know it’s probably $30, but fuck it, I’m on vacation. And I’ve still got an hour and a half until my plane starts boarding. And the longer I sit here the more I’ll just ramble on.

Update: decided not to get the lobster roll. It was $26 and it didn’t even come with fries. I’d rather spend that money in Germany. Bag of cool ranch it is. Still no beer though. I have a feeling Dublin can remedy that.

Vacation Beer Count- 0