the ramble

I’m in Old Town San Diego today, sitting in a coffee shop, sipping a cappuccino, munching a croissant (a thing I don’t think I’ve ever done in America, as I generally save my croissant consumption for the EU). Last night I stayed in a tiny studio just a few blocks away from these shops. And though mostly I just crashed hard when I got there, I did have an interesting night making observations about the person who must live there.

What better way to get acquainted with a person than to be in their house without them.

I have never met the man that owns the apartment, yet I can tell you (with fair confidence) several things about him:
He loves sports. Wrestling and surfing being top and key.
He’s clean, but hates to vacuum.
He doesn’t cook.
He doesn’t take naps.
He’s a body builder–or something close to it.
He’s a sweetheart.
He’s secretly in love with me.

I know he likes sports because of the channel his TV was on, because of the surf board taking up half his bedroom, because of the range of sports channels available on his TV (astounding to me, having no cable for years).

I know he doesn’t cook because he lives in a place with just a kitchenette (no stove!). A thing I could never do, with my desperate love for making pumpkin pies and fruit cobblers without crusts.

I know he doesn’t take naps because I barely fit on his couch. There’s no way a man can lay down on that tiny thing.

I know he’s a body builder of sorts because his kitchen cabinets are full of supplements and his fridge is an interesting assortment of healthful foods. Which makes me secretly in love with him.

I know he’s a sweetheart because he let me stay in his apartment without him. For FREE. Also because he left me a note and some keys and an invitation to eat anything in his fridge (which, as we have discussed, only really includes pineapple juice and body building items). I also might attribute the clean apartment to sweetness. Have I mentioned that I’m secretly in love with him?

And I know he’s secretly in love with me because, first off, who isn’t? And secondly, me being secretly in love with him must be a sign that he’s secretly in love with me–right? Right. Thanks for your support.

In summary, I win. Also, I win.

Love,

Gigi

Me: I was reading a blog today–one of my favorites–about a man who is bicycling through Africa. And he was telling the story of how he chose a road that the maps indicated led to his next destination, only to discover that it ended at a large river. Then, and this is the part that I love, because it is so very incredibly crazy and uncareful, he wades into the river to see how deep it is. And I’ll remind you, this is a river IN AFRICA. And it’s murky. And guess what lives in Africa? Crocodiles. He mentions, in passing, in the entry, that he thought this would be an ideal place to find saltwater crocs if they live in that part of Africa, which he didn’t know.

Relatively Dashing Roommate: I find it funny how foreigners think. We go into a situation and do something stupid and dangerous and say “look at me! I’m like a native.” But no, you’re more like a retarded native.

Me: Exactly! Do you notice any locals in the river? No, you do not.

I’ve been lurking on the travel forums lately. In part because I want information and inspiration for next year’s trip(s). In part because I love to help answer questions, so I was quickly addicted.

One question that keeps coming up in one form or another is this: How do you decide where to go next?

So I thought I’d tackle the question here. And the truth is that it’s been a little different each time:

When I took six weeks off between leaving New York and moving to Denver, I decided on Europe because it was the only continent I hadn’t visited yet. I further decided my destinations as follows: Ireland (because that’s where I found really cheap roundtrip tickets for), Austria (because the friend who invited me to Europe lives there), Italy (because I just love the idea of Italy), Slovakia (because, weirdly enough, the cheapest way from Vienna to Rome was via Slovakia) and France (because I was so close to it at the end of the trip anyway).

For my 2012 trip, I know I want to go back to Europe because A) I feel totally safe and comfortable traveling as a woman alone in Europe, B) I know they have the communications infrastructure I will need to continue doing business from afar and C) I just love the mesh of European cultures and languages and sights.

The specific cities/countries I would like to visit are: Edinburgh (if you’ve seen pictures of Edinburgh, you know. Plus, they speak English and I found a great place to stay almost immediately), Cambridge (stalking various English towns on Flickr brought Cambridge to the forefront due to its being a gorgeous city), Wales (because I’ll be so close, so I should give it a quick jaunt), Ghent (because it’s stunning and full of University students and it is vibrant and the food is good).

For other trips it went something like this:
Australia: I was in high school and wanted to see a kangaroo.
Southern Africa: I was in high school and wanted to help some impoverished babies and see a giraffe.
Thailand: I was supposed to go to Nepal, which I chose because it seemed beautiful and mountainous and wildly different, but the Nepali prince killed his whole family, so we were re-routed to Thailand.
Peru: I hadn’t been to South America yet.
The Bahamas: I was invited on a free cruise, no decision necessary.
Jamaica/Caymans/Mexico: Yet another free cruise.
Costa Rica: It was close and I only had a couple weeks that summer to travel. I wanted to practice my Spanish, help some people and hit Central America.
Morocco: My old childhood friend was in the Peace Corps there and would be alone for Christmas.
Spain: It’s really close to Morocco and the discount plane tickets I had couldn’t be used for Morocco directly.

As for my current process itself, it looks something like this:
1. Pick a continent based on weather, culture, etc.
2. Take out a bunch of guidebooks from the library and research countries of interest, narrowing it down to a few top picks.
3. Get on Flickr and check out photos of the cities that interest me (I love beautiful places!), which further narrows things down.
4. Pick the first destination and make a tentative itinerary.
5. Plan the trip!

Dublin, Ireland

Also, now you can buy my photos. Because you love them. Also because you want to fund my trip to Scotland, right? Pretty please. With sugar and cherries and puppies and stuff on top.

And if there’s a photo I’ve posted that you like but don’t see in the store–let me know!

An Uncluttered World from Steven Dempsey on Vimeo.