So many adventures, so little money…

I will get back to recapping my Moroccan adventures, hopefully sooner rather than later. For the moment, though, I wanted to post a bit of an update on more current topics.

I got back from Thailand on Sunday night. Details of that journey will be put into the queue to be written after the Moroccan one. The trip was amazing, but the flights sucked. I’m beginning to realise that I hate flying – a bit of an impediment, seeing as the travel bug has got me worse than ever.

I have three relatively long-term adventures half-planned in my head. I still can’t decide which one I want to do next. So, in no particular order, the ideas I’m playing with are these:

* Eastern Europe. All of Eastern Europe. It started with a fascination with Croatia, which then extended to the rest of the former Yugoslavia. Looking at possible Intrepid tours re-sparked my interest in Prague and the Czech Republic, Budapest and the rest of Hungary. I still want to do some volunteer work, preferably with babies at an orphanage, which added Romania to the list. And I took three years of Russian in university and would love to actually visit the country, see some Chekhov in his native tongue, and so Russia got added. And then, my grandmother is from Lithuania, so I should hit the Baltic states as well…

At one point I envisioned one big marathon journey, but I’m beginning to think I might want to break it down into a few different trips. Prague, Budapest, then the former Yugoslavia as one trip. Russia and the Baltics as another. Bulgaria and Romania as a third, maybe, with the emphasis on that one being a mid-length volunteer stint somewhere.

And, as I said, I’ve been looking at Intrepid trips in this region, because I’m having a love affair with that company right now, but for this one, I’m starting to think maybe backpacking and hostelling would be the better route. But I know that I get lonely very quickly by myself, I get travel fatigue very quickly by myself… Also, I’m 31 and not much of a partier. I don’t know if I’m too old for the hostelling thing. Anyway. Things to think about.

* New Zealand.  This one has to happen relatively soon, because I’m only eligible for a working holiday-maker’s visa until the age of 35. It’s battling for the position of next-up with the Croatia trip. For New Zealand, I’m looking at WWOOFing. I’ve found a farm I like the sounds of. I’ve always had a fascination with wool, crochet, soft furnishings, and this farm spins and cards its own wool. I’d love to go and spend a good chunk of time, learn everything about wool from sheep to sweater, in addition to learning about farm life. Either before or after I’d throw in a good trip around the island, either backpacking or with Intrepid. And, since I’m in the neighbourhood, I should also do Australia, but that’s a bit too much to wrap my head around for the moment.

* The Middle East. This one will be Intrepid for sure. I’m just not comfortable enough travelling that area as a woman on my own. And Intrepid has a journey I love the look of. The Middle East Adventure. It starts with 8 days in Egypt, then goes from Cairo to Istanbul, via Jordan and Syria. And to the end of that I would add a tour around Turkey and a few days in Istanbul itself. On my trip in Thailand, I met a man who had done this trip and got the chance to pick his brains, which was wonderful. This adventure is absolutely on my list. For the moment, though, it’s sitting in third place. I have a bee in my bonnet about Croatia, and New Zealand has a time limit, so…

**

My next work contract begins next week, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s at a company that I love, and I’ve been off work for a while now. The contract is only for three months, though, and the temptation to start planning my next trip for as soon as it’s done is almost overwhelming. I can’t quite afford it, I don’t think. In my head, though, I’m convinced I’ll be off on my next adventure by the end of the year. I’m not sure how realistic that is, but it’s definitely something to strive for.

I also need to keep reminding myself that I have the rest of my life to fill. I don’t need to take all of my adventures all at once. Of course, even after those three, I want to go back to France, I’ve never been to Italy or Greece, and there’s always South America…

So, yes, I’m excited, planning adventures in my head. I’ve started preliminary research, reading a couple of books. I’ll post more as I narrow things down. Or add to my list!

About kithika

The travel bug runs deep in my family, and I have definitely inherited my share. I had been to England, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and China before I was out of grade school. After university, I was lucky enough to land a job with a travelling theatre production, and spent three years with no fixed address, living and travelling through Western Europe, and two years after that living in London, England. I am now back in Ontario, Canada, living in a variety of small towns, working in theatre and television.
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