About Me

To make a long story short, I love to travel. I enjoy exploring new and exciting places, experiencing different cultures, and envisioning myself as a local. Ever since I first visited Europe in 2010, I have been infected with the travel bug, which although it can be a good thing, can be a real pain in the butt because I constantly have itchy feet. Aside from travelling, I have a passion for teaching and working with childen. In writing this blog, I hope to share my travel experiences with family, friends, and anyone else out there who may happen to come across my blog. My moto is that you only live once and that you should take advantage of every opportunity thrown your way. Life is too short to sit around doing nothing, and with that said, I am off to see the world!

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool
To weep is to risk being called sentimental
To reach out to another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But they cannot learn, feel, change, grow or really live.
Chained by their sevitude they are slaves who have forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is truly free.
- William Ward

Monday, 21 May 2012

My summer in Spain...an adventure before it even begins!

          With less than a week before I leave, I am already feeling the pressure of having to plan every aspect of my trip, and conserve my money which seems just as hard now as it will be when I am actually in Europe. But, I am really excited to be spending my entire summer in Spain and I am eager to gain life experiences along the way. The only two dates I know for sure what I will be doing are May 26 and August 15. Other than that, I am going to play it by ear and see where my pilgrimage takes me. I will be spending my first 5 days in the beautiful city of San Sebastian where I will be taking a Wine and Cheese tour along with a Pincho tasting tour. Hopefully the weather will be nice, *fingers crossed*, because according to the weather forecast, it looks like there will only be two sunny days while I am there. Even so, I will still have the amazing food to look forward to, so who cares if I don't get to spend a week at the beach; I will be getting plenty of sun while on pilgrimage, that’s for sure!
          After San Sebastian, I will be taking a train to the small city of St. Jean Pied de Port just over the border in France. This is where I will begin pilgrimage. From here, it is approximately 790km to Santiago de Compostela – the final destination for most pilgrims. However, I plan on walking a grand total of 905km to the coastal cities of Finisterre and Muxia. Then I can say that I walked the entire distance across northern Spain – from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Although I am doing pilgrimage for bragging rights and for self-fulfillment, all of the documentaries I have watched and the guide books I have read have said that that by taking pilgrimage “you will find the answer”, but I don’t know the question. I guess over the course of my 53 days of walking I will find what I am searching for, even though I don’t know what “it” is at the moment.


          Finally, after my pilgrimage, I plan on spending July 24 and July 25 in Santiago de Compostela for the festivities of Saint James. Then, I am going to take a train into the southern region of Andalucía for the remaining 20 days of my trip. I have no clue what I plan on doing in Andalucía. All I know is that I want to go to Seville, Granada, and Cadiz. There are sooooo many things to do and see in Andalucía, so I am going to keep my plans open to anything. Morocco is a mere 60km away; who knows, maybe I’ll take the ferry and spend a weekend in Tangier, or hop on a train bound for Marrakech and experience the wonders of southern Morocco. Even though I am stressing about not being able to see EVERYTHING, I am going to love what I do see, and not regret what I don’t see. I have 22GB worth of memory cards so that I can take thousands of pictures, and my backpack is filled with 30lb worth of belongings of which I will be carrying with me for the next 3 months. Hopefully I don’t run out of money…then again, it’s me…I’ll run out of money before I reach Santiago ;) Wish me luck!
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous26 May 2012 at 11:26

    Bon Voyage, Matthew! We'll be following you throughout this exciting odyssey and living this journey though your stories. Enjoy.
    Love, Uncle John, Aunt Naomi, Kimiko and Cameron.

    ReplyDelete

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