Languages Are for Learning

Ok, I haven't posted on here lately. That's lame. But I've been busy, I'm a full time student! Also I've been making things happen. Wheels are turning. At the top of the list is a wonderful young woman who has been occupying much of my time - and I'm more than a little bit anxious with leaving because of her. I'm not too ashamed or anxious to say that I love her. Not, like, "Hey let's get hitched!". More like, "Hey, I love who you are and I love how you make me feel." I wasn't expecting to find that between February and my flight on July 5. It's been great. My Dad finds it great because it's proof I'm not gay. I didn't know that was a concern.

I have acquired a language learning program and I'm working on my Spanish. Slowly but surely. So far I know how to say he/she reads, writes, eats, drinks, runs (el/ella lee, escribe, come, bebe, corre) what is this? (Que es esta?) dog/cat/girl/boy/bicycle/rice (perro, gato, nina, nino, bicicleta, arroza) and a few other things. Me gusta.

Also, I've been planning. Here's my tentative itinerary.

July 6 - Fly to Malaga, Espana

July 7 - 15, Cruise with my GAC (That's Glacier Adventure Co., for those not in the know. It's a little wilderness excursion and existential support group formed by Lee Hodin. Good stuff.) boys and girls exploring Marbella, and more generally Andalusia. On this list is The Kings Walkway, if I can find a brave buddy and hopefully some climbing in El Chorro.

July 16 - Hodie gets hitched. I will be drunk and dancing and busting out all the Spanish I can manage.

July 17 - Some beach time, relax.

July 18/19/20 - Not sure if this will work out, but there is world famous deep water solo climbing in Mallorca. I must do this. For those unfamiliar check out Venga!

After this I'll fly to Germany for a bit and sort out what I want to do there. On this list is:
Neuschwanstein (below)

And as much time in the Alp and der Schwarzwald as possible.

The Plan Keeps Coming Back Again

Success! I have been accepted into the Educators Abroad student teaching internship. I get to student teach in any country I want! So the question becomes when/where do I student teach. I am still planning on going to Germany and Ireland, but those stays may have to be shortened in order to fit in a 10 week student teaching program. Either way, this trip is getting more and more exciting - not to mention more and more relevant and useful for my life.

I can't explain the effect simply buying a ticket and fabricating some loose plan based off nothing but what I want to do has had on my life. Before this everything was feeling like a re-run of the last four years. This has been the best decision I have ever made for my own personal growth. I think this happens to everyone, and maybe it's happening to you now - your life just seems dry and weighty. Well what I'm learning is just set a goal, change something! It could be anything, take some risks folks! Here's a bad analogy for you, think of life as two pools...one is a hot tub and the other is, well, it's cold. Hot tubs are awesome, for a while. But after some amount of time they get stuffy, and make people tired and lethargic. The only cure is to hop out that hot tub and giggle and sprint and dive into the cold pool and scream and laugh and remember that hot tub is sitting right there when you get too cold - or too used to the cold.

"I've learned that making a living is not the same as making a life."
- Maya Angalou

The Tipping Point

Thanks to my friend Lisa via sarcastic Facebookery called my crappy "Will Goes to Europe" title out. Yes, it sucked. And so then I tried to come up with something profound and poetic, which is always a dangerous undertaking to try to be profound and poetic. So I changed my Blog title to "Whither the World Take Me", because it seemed to fit my journey - letting the complex interactions of the world take me where they may. But, that title also sucked, if not just because 'whither' is an obnoxious word to use.

The Tipping Point

I like this title. It fits my reasons for taking this trip on. It fits how I started this trip. Sitting in my room realizing that all I know is school, and that for me to be happy with who I am I need to experience the world outside of my comfort zone. School has lost it's pizazz and I've always felt zen in change - the bigger the change the bigger the zen right? So I reached the tipping point and I bought a one way ticket to something new. Honestly, I'm disappointed in myself for being too afraid to make a change like this sooner. In class, one of my favorites, we were discussing art in education and somehow we began discussing how so much of what we do, what we wear, what we believe is dictated by outside influences. Not by friends or family or local culture, but by media and marketing and pop-culture. I want my trip to help me determine my beliefs and values as dictated by me and I will use technology to fit my market of beliefs rather than fit my beliefs into the markets made for me. I'm ready to live the life I want to.

I like this title. I think it will stick.

One of Many

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." - Socrates (Bustin it Old-School)

This is my first post of hopefully much more to come. I am starting this to document my travels in Europe beginning in July, to keep family and friends (and whoever else) updated, and to make sure that I get the most out of my trip. Welcome to my public journal.

Today I bought my ticket to Malaga, Spain. Let the journey begin.

For family, and anyone else who happens to care. Yes, I am trying to sell (almost) everything. Everything major, I want to get rid of. And, yes, partially this is for money - I haven't found my sugar mama quite yet. However, it's also a step in a new direction. I've had stuff, I'm tired of stuff. I want experiences and language and adventure. Stuff just makes me sit on my ass and watch HDTV or play video games or pay for gas and insurance. Bahh! I'm over it. I want make moments that matter - and I want to tell you about them, too.

Second. My stuff will be found on craigslist soon. I will post a link just in case anyone is interested in any of it. I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit that relinquishing my TV and video games will probably be one of the harder losses, but the hardest is sure to be my guitar. Of course I can buy a new guitar one day, but haecceity is a strong force (and a big, cool, new word you should look up). Still, it's more important to me that I realize my life is separate from what I have.

Third. Here are my options:
1. WWOOF - I would find Organic Farms across Europe and work on them for a few weeks to a month.
2. Workaway - There are awesome people on here who will put you up for a certain amount of time if you work for them. There are families who just want you to help around the house and babysit or teach their kids your language, there are farmers, ranches, you name it. This is looking like my favorite option.
3. Bike Tour - I think I could manage to tour around on my bike while moving between these programs on here. Definitely want to try to add some biking/hiking no matter what.

Any suggestions?