Jul 2006

Hello All...Time for another dose of my ramblings. Well, as most of you know, I finally made it out of Dublin and have started heading southwest through Kilkenny, Cork, Schull, and Killarney. I am currently in Killarney. I spent the day on a tour around the Ring of Kerry which took a counter-clockwise course around the coastal cliff regions of the Iveragh pennisula. It was absolutely gorgeous and by far some of the most dramatic scenery I have seen since being in Ireland. Tomorrow I will be heading out to the Gap of Dunloe where I will hike about 7 miles from the Gap to the Upper Lake of Killarney and will then take a boat thru the three lakes (Upper, Middle, and Lower) and their connecting rivers. Then I will take a short bus ride up to Tralee where I will spend the night before exploring the Dingle Pennisula on Friday. From there I will head up north to Galway where I intend to spend 3 nights but will spend a couple of days exploring regions outside of the city such as The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, and Connemara National Park near Clifden. Following my time in Galway I will continue further north to Donegal/Letterkenny and should be getting into Derry, Northern Ireland on the evening of the 25th or morning of the 26th.

The reasoning for my title is because the countryside here reminds me so much of western Oregon, especially drives out to the coast. There are obviously some differences but the lushness of the fauna and flora (lots of rhodedendrons and roses), dense forests (firs and oaks), and the climate are very similar. It makes sense seeing as how Oregon and Ireland are at nearly the same latitudes and near the ocean. It has been nice to see the similarities and discover the differences. In fact, although my mind will probably change as I continue to discover other amazing and gorgeous places, I think I discovered a place (a small village in a tiny bay just southeast of Waterville on the southern tip of the Iveragh pennisula) where I could easily return to and live out the rest of my life in peace and relaxation. It is a nice little seaside village and is not overrun by tourists. I saw quite a few houses up on the hillside looking out onto the bay which is absolutely beautiful. And it would be a perfect location since I would only be about two and a half hours from Cork and three to four hours from Galway (two of the larger cities in Ireland). All I need to do is learn how to sail, come into a couple million euros, buy a house (about 350,000 euros) and boat, and I could easily spend the rest of my life relaxing and enjoying Ireland to its fullest...which is better understood as drinking at least one Irish coffee and one Guinness per day accompanied by a bowl of seafood chowder (it's so good here) or some Irish stew. If anyone out there feels inclined to help with the couple million euros part, please let me know and I will give you my bank account details so that you can wire the money to me. And of course you would always be welcome to come and visit me and stay in my Irish paradise for free.

While in Kilkenny I met a few other travellers...French, Germans, Austrians, Australians, and an Italian...(as well as some locals who took us all out for a good night and early morning) that were staying at the same hostel as I was. One of them was a guy (Federico) from Torino, Italy who is also 26 and just finished getting his general practicioner degree (equivalent of an MD) from university in Torino. He was travelling for a few weeks before he has to return and begin his residency. He left Kilkenny before I did but we just happened by chance to run into each other at the bus station in Cork (which is about 150,000 people with about another 500,000 tourists) and we spent the next couple nights going out to the pubs. We may try and meet up again for a night we will both be in Galway this weekend. He was a really nice guy and we had some fun conversations about differences and similarities between our countries and our travel experiences and now I have a guaranteed (of his accord of course) tour guide when I make it to Torino, Italy near the end of November. It was nice to have someone to go out with for a few nights and who was willing to share lots of his advice to me on various places I will be travelling as he has travelled extensively. I also met three women on the tour today from Finland who were a little bit older but were very nice.

Well, I am about to head out and explore the streets of Killarney for a few hours tonight before I head to bed as I have a busy day tomorrow. I hope all are doing well and I wish you peace and health. Look forward to my next post in a few days which I have already thought about what I will write (it is based on some of my experiences and conversations with other travellers so far) and I am sure will cause some stirs with some of you. It should be a good one. Take care.

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.

Well, I finally made it! To tell you the truth I am kind of at a loss for words...too many things to say and not enough time or space to do it. I arrived into to Dublin at around 8:30 AM this morning and spent the next hour or so going through the passport line, but made it through without any major hitches.

Then came the next adventure. Trying to figure out what bus to take to get to the city center. I can only describe it as if taking a craps shot. I got lucky and mainly just tried to follow the crowd. The ride itself was terrifying...riding in a double decker bus going 40 mph on the wrong side of the road (for us Americans anyway) down three lane streets that are so narrow they should really only be two lanes. Once I was in the city center I had about a 2 mile walk with almost 50 pounds on my back to the place I am staying so I could check in. I decided to stay in a small B&B for these first few days in Dublin...figured it would help me get acclimated to life on the road. It's too long of a story for now but remind me when I am finally home to tell you about my first experience at this place. All I can say is chaos. Anyway, I was so tired from the trip over that I crashed for about 2 hours and finally made it back out to the city center.

Unfortunately, not too many pictures this first day as I have spent most of it just wandering around the city trying to get my bearings. Let's just say I am still looking for them. I feel like I have been dropped into the middle of the desert with no idea where I am. Not that this is a bad thing...just something that I am going to be experiencing quite a bit over the next few months. I think once I am out of the city and in smaller towns throughout the country it will be a little easier to find my way...hopefully.

As for Dublin itself, it is a crazy city. Very diverse group of people...although I think there are more foreigners here than actual Dubliners. Somewhat of a dirty city but gorgeous at the same time. Modern meets old world charm. At times I feel as though I am in New York there are so many people. As for the next few days here I will hopefully be a little more organized and able to not get lost so much. I have seen thousands of other travellers like me with massive packs that weigh as much as the person although most of them are usually speaking other languages.

As for myself, my mind is flip-flopping between thinking "this is amazing" and "what the hell have I gotten myself into?" I think it will be this way at least for a few more weeks until I really get into the swing of things and get accustomed to a life on the road. That's what this is...not a 5 month trip but rather a new way of life that I am only beginning to figure out. It will come in time though.

I already miss everyone but know that you are all keeping me in your thoughts and wishing me the best. I will continue to keep in touch and look forward to telling you of more interesting stories from my travels. Until next time, take care and wish me luck in finding my way back to wherever it was I came from. For now, it is back into the crazy and amazing world of Dublin, Ireland.

Oh, I almost forgot, my first experience with coffee in Europe was amazing. It makes Starbucks seem like Folger's Instant Brew. And I'm not even in a country known for its coffee. I can only imgagine that it gets even better. Next on the list for this evening is a nice pint of Guinness in an authentic Irish pub. I will let you know how it goes. Take care and talk to you all soon.