Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Teach Pray Love Returns

Life over the past several months has taken my presence away from the blogosphere.  Under previous circumstances, I'd be posting this entry to my sister blog, but since one of the most significant components of what's been on my life's agenda is another trip to Europe, I'm relaunching this one.

If you know me in real life and feel left out that you missed my news, don't.  For a long time, I was unsure whether or not I would be able to go on this trip so I kept it under the radar.  After I took the leap and purchased my plane ticket out of Minneapolis, I opted out of telling people because I've grown sick of social media knowing more about my life than I do.  I guess I just wanted to keep something for myself.

At any rate, I am currently waiting to board my flight from Boston to Reykjavik en route to Paris.  I never imagined that I would return to Paris less than a year after the ordeal that happened during my short time in Paris last summer,  but fate has an artfully unexpected manner of course. To elaborate:

This trip (which will last for the next month) all started with a card in my mailbox this winter.  I walked to the driveway to get the mail and was greeted with the news that my dear friend Kelly was chosen for an internship at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France.  I was thrilled at the prestigious opportunity for my friend and ecstatic when, a few weeks later, she invited me and Torrie to visit our friend Caleb in Madrid (where he has been living since January).  While I was ecstatic at the invitation, I didn't think my tip money would suffice for such a big trip.  Still,  I was determined to try to work out something: these are three of my closest friends in the world.  We've all known each other for 10 years and suffered through adolescence at its worst. (To elaborate: ten years ago, I still thought John Lennon and I had a love that transcended the grave.   If someone sticks with you through your dead boyfriend delusions, that's true friendship).

Anyway, looking for inexpensive flights and having a goal to work toward eventually allowed this trip to happen.  And I have to give myself credit for tenacity: I earned a fair amount of money by letting people stick me with needles and extract my plasma.  With the money to finance flights and lodging, Kelly,  Torrie and I arranged our plans through video chats and message boards and what I had initially expected to be two weeks in Madrid has morphed into an elaborate month-long journey through the Iberian peninsula and the British Isles with Paris as a starting point and the final four days in Newfoundland.  It's more exciting than I could have imagined and I couldn't be happier to have the privilege of seeing more of the world. 

I will post pictures once we get to Europe.  I want to blog as well, but I'm still getting to know my tablet so I can't promise impeccable spelling or punctuation.  I hope this entry answers all the burning questions that popped up on Facebook when I mentioned my flight to Paris.  Check back tomorrow for pictures and updates!