May 27, 2022: Start of Something New
From my foray into van life, I learned that community is really important to me. So it makes sense that my next adventure will move a little slower, will keep me grounded in one place for a little longer.
I’m moving to Europe with my best friend (hey, look, built in support system), and we plan on living in each location for 2 to 3 months. We want to get to know the community we’re in. We also want to see as much as humanly possible. So 2 to 3 months seemed like a good compromise between settling in and packing a lot into one year.
I take off on June 22nd for Berlin, where I’ll spend a week visiting friends and relatives (and reacquainting myself with my old haunts) before taking the train to Croatia. On the way, I’m going to stop for 4 days in Graz, Austria and spend a few hours in a tiny village in Slovenia. On July 7th, Nicole and I will meet up in Croatia and check into our first AirBnB. We’ll be in Croatia for 3 months before moving on to our next stop in Italy.
We’ve booked lodging for the first six months of this trip, and I guess we’ll figure the rest out as we go. I’m hoping to sharpen some language skills, finally learn to cook, work on my writing, and make a lot of friends along the way. I’m also starting a podcast (with Nicole as my fabulous cohost!) that will cover travel, culture, and international relations, a combination of information and entertainment that will include our travel experiences alongside history, interviews, and travel tips and tricks.
Right now everything is simultaneously chaotic and coming together. With 26 days until takeoff, I’m starting to get really nervous that I won’t be ready, or I’ll forget something important. But at the same time, I’m insanely, mind-numbingly excited. I'm starting to figure out what to pack, all the transportation and lodging for the first leg of the trip is lined up and I’ve got the tickets and confirmations chronologically organized in a folder, I’ve gone in for all the checkups, gotten an international driver’s license, and started learning Croatian (which is a total pain, let me tell you). I’ve done a lot of research on what to see during my 4 days in Graz. We’ve been planning this since the end of last summer, but it’s finally starting to feel real.