Growing up, I didn’t travel a whole lot. Up until I was like maybe 11 years old, my entire world revolved around the states of Virginia and Maryland, bouncing around between family visits and, family visits. Family vacations as I aged were to places like New York, Chicago, and to Niagara Falls, where we barely crossed into Canada for a spell.
Conventions, afforded me opportunities to visit other states, although I didn’t really explore any of them outside of the respective conventions I went to, but for what it was worth, I started visiting places like California, Georgia and the Carolinas. And when I became my best impression of a functional adult and got super into baseball, the pursuit of baseball parks has given me the best excuse to visit a whole slew of places I never imagined seeing growing up, like Seattle, Portland, Miami, Boston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Diego.
However, aside from visits to cities in adjacent countries Canada and Mexico, I’ve never been outside of the United States. In fact, I’ve never been out of the western hemisphere in my entire life. For shame, when you consider the fact that I’ve never been back to the Motherland at any point, and it’s still my goal to ultimately take my mother to Korea one of these days. I never went, or really had the opportunity for any dramatic international travel in my life; I didn’t go backpacking through Europe, nor did I ever have the aforementioned trip back to the Motherland. And up until I was really an adult, I guess I didn’t have the financial means and/or the drive to pursue it.
Well, that changes now, because by time I post this, I’ll probably already be up in the air, on my way across the Atlantic Ocean, for a vacation in another part of the world. I haven’t really talked about this much, mostly because I’m kind of a recluse when it comes to my vacation aspirations, but also because I’m sometimes paranoid, and this was planned so far ahead in advance that I also had to deal with the distractions of the angsty summer vacation I never wanted as well that tempered some of the build up. All that, and the fact that I don’t think I’m really that wired to get super-excited and pumped up about things, in general, despite the fact that I know this is going to be an amazing and memorable trip.
But yeah, European vacation. I’m going to see four countries, view a lot of touristy things, take hundreds of pictures, eat all the food and drink most of the spirits. It should also come as no surprise that League of Legends will be involved, since the mythical girlfriend and I will be attending the semi-finals as well as the finals to Worlds while we’re out there. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that without her encouragement and own travel ambitions, I probably would never have had the push to take a plunge like this in the first place.
I am excited sure, but I’m also a little nervous about the whole thing, because this is the first time I’m really leaving a comfort zone where, even in “other” countries, English is still widely accepted and understood. I’m going somewhere where the USD is scoffed at, and I’ve already gotten reamed converting my money to Euros; this is what Canadians and Mexicans must feel like visiting the United States.
But I know that everything’s going to work out, and it’s going to be pretty incredible.
All that considered, this is going to be the last post for a while (unless I find reliable internet connectivity as well as the desire to write on vacation). I hope my six readers and everyone back in the United States have good times while I’m away, fun and happy Halloweens, and I just realized that I can make the Wyclef Jean reference that is relevant, when I say that I’ll be Gone ’Til November.
