So I've never blogged before, I'm not really sure what to say so I'll just say whatever comes to mind. I'm going to be using this blog as a way to keep in touch and keep everyone updated on my travels over the next year, I should be able to post my pictures and video. From now until I leave it'll be mostly about my preparation and stuff like that, hopefully you (my readers) will be able to give me some advice.
I guess I'll just lay out my plan for travel. Nothing is really concrete yet but this is the big idea I've been planning out and refining in my head for the past couple years. So far my plan is to leave whenever the Twins season is over, hopefully around the beginning of Nov. for Spain and Portugal. My Mom has always said that baseball rules my life, and I guess I have to agree. I figure that when the Twins win the world series I'll be able to stay in town long enough for the victory parade than skip out. On the very small chance that they somehow don't win it, I can forget my sorrow and begin my travels early. I've been looking at flights to Spain and it seems like it'll be easiest for me to fly into Madrid standby. (The whole reason travel is affordable because my Mom is a flight attendant for Delta) My basic plan in Spain is to watch as many soccer games as possible while traveling in a sort of loop around the country, either by bus or train. That way I can see a little bit of a lot of the different regions. Also I'll be able to kind of speak Spanish for the first part of the trip (before I get to Portugal), which should make my first month or so of independent travel a bit easier. So far that's about as specific as I am on that 1st major leg of my gap year.
I guess now would be a good time to explain why I want to go bumming around the world for a year. It's been something I've wanted to do for quite awhile, but I can't remember the exact moment I decided I would do it. I owe my passion for travel to my parents because before I can remember they've taken me places from New Mexico, Boston, and Alaska to the UK, Costa Rica and Mexico. Back in sophomore year the Spanish class at school was taking a trip to Argentina and a couple of my friends were going. I can't remember why but I didn't want to go at all. Somehow my parents convinced me to go, and that trip really showed me how awesome travel can be. I think that trip also sparked my interest in the entire Spanish speaking world.
Now you might be thinking, how the heck is this kid going to be able to do all of this traveling and not run out of cash and be stuck in who knows where? Well hopefully I have it covered because I've been saving up for this trip since I got my job at the neighborhood hardware store 2 1/2 years ago. I've got quite a bit saved up, but I actually don't know if its going to be enough. I think the biggest test on my spending is going to be right away in Spain and Portugal, because there comparatively quite a bit more expensive than just about any country in South America. For example I was searching for tickets for soccer matches in Madrid during my 1st week of being there. I found tickets to a game that has my favorite team in Spain (Athletico Madrid) in a Darby (match against a team from the same town or city; they tend to be the most popular games available) against their biggest rivals (Real Madrid). I was surprised that I could find tickets online and a good 2 months before the game, but the least expensive ones were 170 euros (200+ USD), which is way out of my price range. I'm hoping that those were just tourist prices for a big game and I'll be able to find something cheaper once I get there. In comparison, I can find tickets for my favorite team in the world, the Boca Jrs. of Buenos Aries for no more than 35-50 USD. So money on the 1st leg of my trip might be an issue.
You also might be asking yourself, how is he not going to just fall in love with some exotic location and just stay there? I have a safeguard in place for a situation just like that. I've been accepted to Knox College in Ill. and have deferred admission till the fall of 2011. That means that I have to be done traveling and ready to go by next Aug. I picked that school because of their Global Studies major, which is really customizable to a lot of different issues and areas. It seems like a good fit because I can use this year abroad as a kind of research into what I want to specialize in. I also picked the school because they seemed to cater to kids taking a gap year.
Wow, I just realized that I've written more than I wrote all of Sr. year (Just Kidding (Sort of)) and still haven't written about the bigger leg of my trip (South America) and my trip that I'm leaving on in a week (India). I've got to take a break now but hopefully I'll be able to write more later. If you've got any advice or anything for me leave comments!
