Sine Metu

"Without Fear"

First off, Ireland is amazing! Everyone is so friendly and the Guinness tastes so much better! We are on day two of our Ireland adventure and we are having a great time. We went to the Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Distillery.  We also explored the medieval area and went to the Dublin castle. We are renting a car tomorrow and driving to Galway and off to the Blarney Stone on Monday.

Tips & Tricks of Ireland:

1. Bring an umbrella with you everywhere. You never know when it is going to rain. It may look like it will be nice, but the clouds roll in quick, it's insane!

2. The bathrooms are referred to as "toilets" and they are associated with "ladies" or "gents"

3. Don't be afraid to ask for directions, the Irish are very eager to help and are very proud of their country.

4. There are gypsies in Ireland, so be aware of your belongings and people bumping into you.

Those are a few of things we have learned so far. I will update again as soon as I can!

 

New England & Ireland - "2 halves that formed a whole"

"Not all those who wander are lost."

A friend of mine had sent me a text a couple days ago with those exact words and it really made me think about how really wonderful it is to have this opportunity to travel.   Gary and I are truly blessed and grateful.  That was one of the last texts I will be receiving on my phone for a while, I suspended my contract with Verizon Wireless yesterday.  I am now without a phone and I have to tell you, it feels absolutely amazing.

Moving on.  

We just finished our New England trip and have made it to Europe, but before I divulge to you all about where we are at this very moment (although some of you already know) I would like to take you through our New England adventure, because it was nothing short of one.  Gary and I took off from Phoenix airport, making our way to Boston, but this was going to cost us, $50 each to be exact.  We tried to pack smart, but packing for the next three weeks, and ultimately until whenever our lives bring us back home, is not an easy task.  Both of our bags were over 70 pounds, and instead of being charged the regular $100 per bag, the woman at the counter gave us a break and only charged us $50 each.  We decided right then and there that we either throw things out of our suitcase and worry about buying things when we need it, or buy another suitcase. We did both. LOL.

So we made it to Boston, and I didn't sleep at all on the plane, but I am pumped and ready to go.  We lug our 70 pound suitcases onto the train and the subway and drop our bags off with Gary's friend Louis and we then take off and explore the city. We did a Boston Duck Tour, the Freedom Trail and Harvard.  We saw a lot of old tombstones from the 1600-1700, that was amazing!  Tombstones of Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere were among the many that were buried in Boston. We only spent 1 day in Boston and then it was off to Rhode Island.  I had never really heard much about Rhode Island, except of the Big Blue Bug from Dumb & Dumber, so I was pleasantly surprised that Rhode Island quickly became one of my favorite things about New England.  The beaches, the lobster and the crab are nothing short of AMAZING!  We were in Rhody for 3 days I believe, I sort of lost track of time after Boston, LOL.  On our last day, we took the Amtrak train from Rhody to New York, this train ride was about 3 hours and gave me plenty of time to read and relax before getting into the Big Apple.  This is where things start to get interesting.  Gary and I arrive at Penn Station at about 6pm, right in the middle of rush hour.  I am lugging a 50 pound suitcase, my backpack and camera bag, while Gary is lugging his 50 pound suitcase, another roughly 40 pound suitcase and his backpack around the city until we get to the subway where we are taking the subway to Queens trying not to get trampled on.   We didn't have much planned for our New York City trip, we did all of the touristy things last time we were in New York back in October.  We walked the park, ate great food, relaxed and got ready for our trip to Ireland. We took the red eye from JFK to Dublin at 9:50 last night.

We landed in Ireland at about 9am Ireland time and it is exactly how I pictured it would be and some other things have already taken me by surprise.  I am writing this blog in the pub of the hotel listening to The Eagles play over the radio and I am starting to smile to myself trying to figure out what else I was expecting.  I guess I imagined everyone in Ireland listening to traditional Irish music, I can be so naive sometimes.  By the way, Pink Floyd just came on, in case you were wondering.  I Wish you Were Here.

Gary and I will be celebrating our One Year Anniversary tomorrow!  I can't believe it's been a year already, time really does fly by you!

Until next time,
Cheers!

Leaving everything I know

I quit my job, I sold my car and I sold all of my furniture. It is very liberating to be rid of the most basic materialistic necessities.

I worked for American Honda Finance. I held many positions with Honda and I am happy to say that I am no longer an employee there.  Although, you couldn't technically call me an "employee" because I was actually a temporary associate and I have worked there for four consecutive years. That job was never what I wanted to do, I don't believe it is what anyone really wants to do, but I wasn't going to settle. I am not that type of person.

While working for American Honda Finance a lot has happened. I learned a lot while and I can honestly say that I have grown as a person.   I didn't grow because Honda had given me the ability or the tools to grow as an employee, I grew because I now know what I want and I know what I don't want and I'm not afraid to go after my dreams.

My story starts here.

My boyfriend Gary and I had made the decision to leave everything we know to teach English in Barcelona, Spain. We arrive in Spain on July 30th, but before we start the teaching program on August 1st, we are going to be traveling.  A week in New England, a week in Ireland and a week in Italy and then off to Barcelona where we will be living until, whenever. 

We left California yesterday with a packed U-Haul and a car with no air conditioning. I drove the car in 111 degree weather, through the hot Arizona desert...if you have ever drove a car with no air conditioning through the hot desert, I commend you on your survival. I thought I was going to have a heat stroke or die of heat exhaustion.  Granted, the windows were down in the car but the air was so hot it was stinging my sweat stricken body. Four hours and 6 bottles of water later we arrived in Goodyear, Arizona where Gary's parents live and we started to unpack the U-Haul. Just as we finished unpacking, a dust storm started to roll in and the monsoon came.  I have never been in a dust storm or seen a monsoon, so this was amazing to see.

We will be in Arizona until tomorrow night and then we take a red-eye out of Phoenix to Boston.

Until next time :)