Random Ramblings of a Wanderer

Hello All. Well, it has now been 5 days into my travels and I was trying to figure out in my head earlier today that I am now approximately 1/35th of the way through the entire journey. Kind of makes it seem like a lot longer than just saying that I still have 5 more months. However, the 5 days have been a whirlwind of experiences and I can not even imagine what is yet to come.

As you may be able to tell from my entry title, I have been thinking a lot about the adventure that travelling alone can be. I have come to the conclusion that travelling alone, while much more exhilirating and free at times, is and will continue to be very difficult. By travelling on my own, I am afforded the freedom to do what I want, when I want. No need to be concerned with what the other person(s) want(s) to do. No one slowing me down or causing me unneeded mind numbing arguments. On the other hand, however, as a traveller on his own, I have no consistent person to share the highs and lows of emotions with which inevitably accompany travel and am not afforded the "safety in numbers ideal" or the luxury of more affordable accomodations. Walking the streets, I am constantly reminded of how much of a rarity I am. Ninety percent of the travellers I see or come in contact with seem to be either in a group or at least with one other person. As much as I have dreamed about the opportunity to travel alone across Europe, "no strings attached...no ball and chain pulling me down," I often think how nice it would be to have someone by my side to enjoy the experiences with...on my own terms of course since I can be so bullheaded at times. Yet despite these mixed emotions and thoughts of the pros vs. cons of solo travel, I do realize that I am only travelling alone in physical form. I am well aware of those of you who are traveling with me in heart and mind and, perhaps more importantly, I am always pleasently reminded that my mom is with me in spirit, making sure that I am safe and staying mentally strong and positive. Of course, be mindful that my thoughts on this topic will surely run the gamut of possibilities and change as I become a more seasoned solo traveller.

On another topic in relation to my days events, I have already broken the promise that I had made to myself. Prior to leaving I had convinced myself that I would steer clear of organized tours as I want, for my own self-being as well as for the respect of other travellers, to be considered a traveller rather than a tourist. I hate the tourist label. My idea was to explore Europe as a traveller, attempting to blend in with the crowd and not become the annoying "tourist" that does all the typical things that I can't stand when they are in my own country and to explore on my own terms. Yet, due to logistic reasons, I felt it difficult to avoid some of the organized tours if I wanted to be able to explore more remote settings outside of the major cities. Travel (bus, train, car hire) is often difficult to organize and plan on your own while staying budgetly concious and thus forced me to go with the typcial tourist option of a guided bus tour. Oh well, what am I to do?

But let me say, it was worth it...and I feel that as long as I keep it to a minimum I can live with myself for it.... The tour I took was out of Dublin into the countryside to explore sites such as Tara Hill (an ancient burial and ritualistic site dating from over 4000 years ago), Trim Castle (where much of Braveheart was filmed even though it is not a Scottish castle), and Newgrange (another ancient site that is nearly 1500 years older than the Great Pyramids). The scenery was amazing and it was nice to get some fresh air after having been in the city for the last few days. Tomorrow I plan on making it out to Glendalough and the Wicklow mountains (south of Dublin), will spend the night back in Dublin before permanently heading southwest down towards Kilkenny, Cork, and eventually Killarney. By next week I should be heading up the northern coast through Galway and eventually into Northern Ireland, where I will spend a few days before taking a ferry over to Scotland. I will let you all know how the adventures shape up but will start having less access to phones and the internet until I get up into Belfast. Stay tuned for more updates on my solo travel and the experiences it produces. Take care all and I will talk to you soon.