As a lightning-fast update for those of you slightly mystified as to what the heck this is, I will explain:
I have been living in Boston since graduating from the University of Vermont and have been running Masa Restaurant in Boston's South End. Early in the summer of 2003, however, I began to get an itch. The itch became intolerable by July and I began to devise a way out. By the end of September, I had left the restaurant and enacted my plan, which was simple enough. My plan consisted of 3 rules, and the idea of a website.
The rules were:
I must sell everything I own by November 1st
I must have no apartment by November 1st
I may not make plans past November 1st until November 1st
I created the website to facilitate my plan, and before I knew it, it had taken on a life of its own. It forced me to think about my plan as something more meaningful than a short escape from the moment. It didn't take long to decide that this could be a mantra for anyone who feels the weight of a consumer-dependant, ever more complicated society bearing down on them.
Towards the end of my apartment sale
Needless to say, I was successful in the selling of my possessions, which I called Phase 1 (that is where many of you came into the picture, as customers of a sort). By November, I was free to do what I wanted with my life, so I began narrowing down my many options. I wanted to be as open-minded as possible, so I considered every suggestion, including some that might have landed me back in the same place I started (such as investing in real estate, or starting a business). The last few favorites (hiking the Appalachian Trail, moving to Europe, or doing a cross-country trip) all had one obvious thing in common, but none seemed to be as broad-reaching and large scale as the mantra that first caught my attention.
...So travel was in the cards, but where to go that would do justice to this life-changing situation I was in? The answer? As Jack Kerouac would say: "There was nowhere to go but everywhere...". So I set about the planning of a round-the-world (RTW) trip. As it turns out, this is not uncommon. Maybe not in America, but the Australians seem to love taking these RTW. The British even have their own tourist industry for pre or post college students who call it a "gap year." There are even two RTW traveler's books, just like you might buy a travel guide to New York City before you visit.
Though it took away from the glamour a bit (knowing it's all the rage everywhere else), I was able to accumulate massive amounts of research already done on the subject. Much of the information is on the internet, which pairs perfectly with the idea of using my website as the backbone of this project. Well, two and a half months later I was proud to have condensed the research and planning that takes most other RTWers an average of 2 years to compile. And thanks to the internet, I can take my research with me without having to carry it. A large part of this "phase" (Phase 2), is to be able to take on the challenge of this journey without actually taking much with me.
So to make a long story short, that's what I'm doing, and what this monthly mailing list is all about. With hundreds of web pages, and thousands of research links, my website will surely be able to tell you more, and I'd prefer not to be redundant, so take a visit for more info (www.ithinknot.us).
As for the first leg of my journey, this month I have been crossing the US, visiting New York, Miami, New Orleans, Austin, San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and Maui. The idea is to travel without a firm schedule or structure, so I can go at my own pace, and live in the moment.
...Which takes me to my departure date:
I left last month, but in a strange twist, I ended up in Scotland! I was planning on leaving for Miami on a Sunday. Well, my ride had to get an emergency root canal so the departure date was put off by a week. On Monday, my mom called from New Hampshire and said she'd be in Boston the next day on her way to the airport. She was going to Celtic Connections (a Celtic music fest) in Glasgow for a week. This was the last time I'd get to see her for a couple years, so I went to hang out with her for a couple hours before her flight. I met her at terminal B and as we passed terminal C I asked what terminal she'd be leaving from. If it had been terminal A, B, or C I would have just kept driving into town, but she said terminal E. I asked if I could drop by terminal E for a second, which drew a confused look, and I turned into the terminal.
And so started my journey. Having had no plans whatsoever to go East, let alone to Scotland before Miami, I got on a plane and found myself in the land of haggis, bagpipes, and plaid kilts for a week. Being the queen of cheap travel herself, we stayed in a central hostel and pulled off the whole last-minute trip to Glasgow for US$600 including airfare and a stop in Dublin and Edinburgh! It would have been cheaper to just stay in the US for a week, yes, but the spontaneity of it was just too exciting to pass up. Besides, it was only due to my mother that I learned how to enjoy travel, so it only seemed appropriate to start the biggest trip of my life with her.
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Mom goofing off at parliament... as always...
After an amazing week in Scotland, I came back through Boston for 24 hours on my way to NYC. I was planning on seeing my friend Melanie for a day before heading to Miami, but was shocked to hear that her apartment had burned down the day before. So instead of a fun day saying goodbye, I helped her and her roommates clean out their ash and water damaged belongings. It turned into a more emotional visit than expected, and sadly, I can't even say there was anything to learn from the tragedy.
My ride to Miami was a trip (no pun intended)! I can't say I enjoyed myself, but the experience was worth a laugh now that it's over. If you've ever hitched, or been stuck in a car with a stranger for multiple days, you know that 'ya never know what yer gonna git. It turned out interesting enough, but was far from the easy-going hippie days of hitching in VW's, and was complicated by an overnight detour through the Tampa Greyhound station.
I eventually got to Miami where I stayed with my friend Dave, in Miami Beach. I must say, I was surprised and impressed. I may not have experienced the real Miami Beach, but I really liked it. Expecting a phony plastic-injected population and over-the-top wealth, I was surprised to find a hip mix of people and casual atmosphere. There was a heavy helping of models and Bentley's, but I didn't feel the air of pretension that I would expect to go with that. Obviously the weather was perfect - a dry, sunny 75 degrees everyday - so that didn't hurt either. I got to know the small Miami Beach area and South Beach very well, and enjoyed my 3 days there, but was ready to move on by the 4th day. I spent the last day in Miami downtown which, as I had been told, lacked anything noteworthy to see. But the transportation was easy enough with the free raised trams that move about the city quickly and frequently.
Ocean Drive in Miami Beach is myriad of Art Deco hotels and interesting cars
Though I asked around, there were no rides available at any point west of Miami, so from there on I used Greyhound buses.
I got to New Orleans at night, and B-lined it to Bourbon street. If you've seen the notorious Girls Gone Wild videos, or MTV spring break shows of Mardi Gras on Bourbon St, you've seen all there is to see of it. The rest of the French Quarter, and New Orleans, on the other hand, have to be seen in person. I spent only 4 days in New Orleans and had a total blast. I loved the quaint streets of the French quarter, but really enjoyed the people the most. Again, busting my stereotypes, the people of New Orleans are liberal, open minded, easy going, and of course know how to party! On my last day, I saw the first Mardi Gras parade. This one is the only parade that still goes through the French Quarter. It's a parody on current events (usually turned sexual), and couldn't have been more fun. I've told many of you, but that night I had the best time I've had in ages (little did I know it would get even better as I traveled)! I met Tom and Paula, 2 retired locals who really know how to have a good time. We exchanged some great travel stories while bar hopping and cheering on the parade. I couldn't party as hard as they could, so I went to bed early, but took away some wonderful stories, a dose of New Orleans history, and one hell of a memory!
A Krewe du Vieux parader hypes up the Mardi Gras crowd before the parade comes
through
I was able to find someone to stay with in Austin, the party town of Texas. I was a bit behind schedule, and was starting to worry about being able to get a cheap flight to Hawaii, so I only stayed 1 day, but with my host, Roy's help I was able to see the best Austin had to offer for this time of year. Normally home to some great music, film, and art festivals, the college town was in a lull this week. Nevertheless, per Roy's advice, I enjoyed a mouth watering mole dish at Curra's, Austin's best Mexican joint, and a number of other local hang outs between stops Downtown, the Capitol Building, and UT Austin. All in all, a short, but educational stay.
Well, Austin was my last planned stop. After that, I had to decide whether to go to San Diego, LA or San Francisco. The determining factor was really where I could get the cheapest flight to Maui from. Despite looking for 2 weeks, I couldn't find a cheap fare anywhere. I decided to go visit my friend Sierra in San Francisco while looking into flights from Oakland, since that seemed to have the cheapest fares (though $500 was the best I could find). Sierra was a lifesaver when she called to tell me she had just found a $99 fare from Oakland the next week. I called from the bus as it speed through Arizona and booked my Maui trip. Whew!
After a fun trip into West Hollywood and Santa Monica during my 5 hour layover in LA, I arrived in San Francisco. Not only was Sierra helpful with the flight, but since I got here (San Francisco) she's been an amazing host. I always wanted to like SF, but could never escape the tourist areas. Haight Street was as off-the-beaten-path as I could find. Well since I got here (only 1 1/2 days ago) I've hung in the Mission (one very cool artsy district) where I enjoyed some impromptu live 30's ballads in the cafe I was at, been driven to some of the best view points of the city, checked out the SF International Film Festival, attended a private film viewing party about the Basque shepherds in the Pyrenees at a beautiful private theater (plenty of amazing French wine and cheese consumed of course), and attended an artists' warehouse party to support a fellow artist after a freak accident put him in the hospital. That last one was the best party I've been to in years-perhaps ever. Beautifully and exotically dressed artists of every kind mingling, and displaying stationary and interactive art inside and out; the most talented musicians, DJ's and street performers in the Bay area; and some great company (Sierra met up with 2 more UVM alums while there): Mixed all with Absinthe, and some of the worlds best beatbox performers, this was a party to be remembered!
The gallery of the amazing Frisco party held to benefit a fellow artist
I've still got about a week in the Bay area and then I'm off to Maui for 2 weeks. When I get back to SF on March 7, I'll be heading down to San Diego, and then to Mexico. I anticipate my next e-mail to be from Mexico, so if you have any advise between here and there, feel free to let me know.
For more detailed journal entries about the places I've visited, see the Journals section of the website (again, updated only as often as I can... which hasn't happened yet). If you have any advice on the places I am planning on seeing, please send me a personal e-mail. I'd love any advice I can get.
Anyway, cheers and welcome to the mailing list!
Christian
(for those of you who know me by my middle name, Christian is my first name, but
don't switch)