Well, enough from me. Here is Ashley on traveling to Germany on her own.

Outside Neuschwanstein

It’s Ashley from Ashley Riordan. While Linda is off in Paris having more fun than the rest of us, she asked me to write about traveling to Germany alone and without a plan, which I did last September. I had the idea to go to Germany for a couple years before it became a reality. When people would ask, “Why Germany?” I would give plenty of good reasons, but the real reason was that I just wanted to. At first I reasoned that I would probably have to go alone, because I couldn’t think of anyone I could talk into going with me, but soon going alone became an important part of the trip. This was something I had to do.

I didn’t intend to go without a plan. Or, at least, going without a plan was not part of the plan, as much as it seemed that way to other people. I had been thinking about going to Germany for a couple years and even declared that I would for sure go in 2012, but it wasn’t something I thought about very practically, and by mid-2012, it didn’t look like it was going to happen. Suddenly in late August, the money came through, and I had always wanted to visit Germany in the Fall, so I started looking at flights and found a good deal, and then I talked to my boss about getting the time off, and then I purchased a ticket, and that’s how Germany became a reality in a very short period of time.

I had three weeks to plan, but I was busy and terrified and had never really planned a trip before, so I kept putting it off. I decided on the cities I would visit, but I wasn’t sure how practical I was being, since I had never been to Europe or traveled much by train. A week before leaving for Germany, I took a trip home to Washington with a couple friends of mine. I would periodically mention how terrified and unprepared I was, and they assured me that all I needed to know was where I would stay the first night and how I would get there from the airport. That felt manageable to me, so that’s what I did.

I was terrified until the very second I landed in Berlin, and then I immediately put aside all of my fears and faced what was right in front of me. Traveling alone and without an itinerary means that you are faced with constant decisions, and the only way to address them is one at a time. I had booked a bed in a hostel in Berlin, but I had never stayed in a hostel before and by the time I landed in Berlin, I had been awake for more than 24 hours, so I saw an advertisement for a hotel on the wall in the airport, borrowed some wifi to see how far away it was, and then took a taxi there.

My vague geographic plan turned out to make a lot of sense. I was able to visit Berlin, Munich, Füssen, Heidelberg, Cologne, and Amsterdam in only a week. I wanted to see as much as I possibly could, and with only about 24 hours in each city, I developed clear priorities. For a girl from the West Coast of the United States, it’s completely ridiculous to think you could just walk out of the train station and run right into a site you have only ever seen in pictures, but that was true in Germany. I was able to see almost everything on foot, and get a sense of each city. I hoped this trip would help me narrow down where I might want to return on another trip to Germany, but I loved every city so much that I want to see them all again.

It is both a blessing and a curse of traveling alone that you make every decision yourself. Where to eat, where to sleep, where to go next, and what to do when you get there are all up to you. I like being alone and I’m used to making most of my decisions on my own, so this wasn’t a big deal for me. It was sometimes nice that there was no one around to witness my failures; I got to figure everything out for myself and at my own pace. My friend Nicole emphasized the benefits of traveling alone, and I no better understood them than when I was in Cologne and I wanted to do nothing but stare at the cathedral. I was staying not far away, and I kept walking back just to stare, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That was strangely also the only time I regretted being alone, because the beauty of it caught me so off guard that I almost choked on feeling, and I just wanted to look at someone and say, “Are you seeing this?”

I never felt unsafe while traveling alone, but I did take some precautions. Before I left, I gave my parents an itinerary of where I thought I would be each day, and I gave a couple friends the contact information for my parents in case they were ever concerned. I had very limited access to the internet, but I could turn my phone on if I needed to, and I tried to email someone every day just to say where I was. The one mistake I made was in emailing a friend humorously to say that I was talking to a guy in the Munich train station just so she would know in case I was never heard from again. And then I got on a train and went toward the mountains where I had no internet access for more than 24 hours. The first email I sent when I finally had access again was to say that I was perfectly okay.

In dealing with my fear before I left, I kept asking myself, “What’s the worst case scenario?” What I imagined after asking that question was always me sitting on the side of the street crying and with nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. I worried that I would be too afraid to ask for help when I needed it, because I’d be invested in playing the cool traveler who gets it. But all of that turned out to be so unfounded. I always found a place to stay if I wanted it, I never went hungry, and I was so far out of my normal world that I thought nothing of looking stupid or asking for help. I didn’t even care when a German man yelled at me for not opening the train door fast enough, because I only understood half the words and this was a brand new situation.

That’s the beauty of travel for me. I become a different person. One who doesn’t freak out over inconveniences and doesn’t mind looking like an idiot. I forgave delayed flights and trains, as well as a lack of food and sleep, by just picking up my book and reading or my journal and writing. I spent a night in the Munich train station during Oktoberfest, and I was still so happy for the experience that what I wrote in my journal was, “Remember this night? It was the one I spent in the Munich hpf.” Everything that happened, both good and inconvenient, was part of the story for me.

The reason I spent the night in the train station was that I arrived in Munich at about midnight during Oktoberfest and saw what I described as “Vegas in lederhosen,” and I just knew that wasn’t where I wanted to be. The beauty of traveling alone and without a plan was that I could make that decision within two seconds of getting off the train, book the next train to my favorite castle, and then drink some beer and talk to some strangers until it was time to go again. It was my decision, and I made it quickly, and it was the right one.

Speaking of talking to strangers, a lot of the talk about traveling and doing things alone emphasizes, “You will meet people!” And that is so true, whether you’re hanging out in a new country or your hometown, but I just want to emphasize that you don’t have to. Meeting new people doesn’t have to be the point of traveling alone. It wasn’t for me, though I met some lovely people. I made a point of not spending time on the internet, even when I had access. I wanted to spend all of my time writing and reading, and I did and it made me very happy.

There are all of these expectations on traveling that you can just drown in. I discovered pretty quickly that I’m still not a foodie, even when I switch time zones. I nearly went hungry a couple times before I just said, “Who cares what you eat, you need food!” So I did have KFC, which I don’t even eat when I’m home, at 2 am in Munich. And I did eat pretzels for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and when I finally found a sandwich I really liked, I ordered it everywhere. I can’t speak to the culture or people of every city, because I spent less than 24 hours in each. Even when I travel in the United States, I very often see the most touristy places, because they’re interesting. There are many ways to travel, and plenty of compromises to make, and you have to decide how you’re going to do it.

The bottom line of traveling alone and without a plan in Germany was that I had an amazing time, saw more each day than even seemed possible, and I came home with the kind of confidence that made me think I could do anything.

When you walk the Camino de Santiago, you meet people. You meet Vim from the Netherlands, a 69-year-old man who is not too steady on his feet and can’t seem to keep his clothes on in the albuerges. You meet Meike, also from the Netherlands, who is writing her dissertation about the Camino and is walking in love with a man she met on the trail. You meet Julie and Etienne, a Canadian couple who speak French but are not from Quebec, but New Brunswick thank you very much. You meet Marxi, a German walking with his dog, Funky, who never pays to stay anywhere, sleeps outside underneath tables and fishes in the rivers for his meals. You meet HuiYoung, a young Korean who wants to be a nurse and is always elected head chef for dinners because he was a cook for the army. You meet Bill, a Canadian who makes you laugh so hard you can barely stay on your feet. You meet Dorothea and Dan, a couple walking for the second or third time who always have Breathe Right strips for snorers and warmth for young pilgrims needing encouragement and a kind smile. You meet Alessandro from Italy, with an accent that tickles your ears and a spirit that pushes you up steep hills. You meet six horses standing in the middle of the road on the way from Roncesvalles to Zubiri.

Left to Right: Danielle, Alessandro, Etienne, Julie, Kenny

And when you come to the end, when you are finished with 6am breakfasts, 24 kilometers of walking a day, washing your four pairs of underwear in the sink, and eating hard, crusty bread at almost every meal, packing your bag in just the right way (sleeping bag at the bottom, people), learning to sleep through storms of snoring that defy earplugs, and rubbing menthol into your legs and feet just so you can move when you open your eyes in the morning- when you are finished with all that and you stand in front of the cathedral at the end of your month-long journey- you meet yourself.

You did not plan to meet yourself. You planned to prove to yourself and your husband and all the people who formed the sentence, “You really want to walk for a month carrying all your stuff on your back?” that you could do it. Because you weren’t sure that you could. But you did so much more than survive. You walked yourself right out of that debilitating self-criticism that supposedly knew all the little ways in which others were judging you. You walked into a new kind of validation, where you looked deep in your guts and whatever was there, you decided it was meant to be there. You walked out of thinking comfortable was a worthy goal. You walked out of neurotic circles of self-doubt and into the warmth of just enough self-awareness.

marker on the road that lets you know you’re on the right path

You see a man running past the cross in the road. It is your husband. He thinks you’ve missed the turn and have kept going. He is running after you. If that was true, if you had kept going, he would have to run a long time to catch you. He is running fast. And in that moment, when you see that man running after you, see his body hurrying to wherever you might be, you know. You feel the most loved you’ve ever felt in your life. And you are yourself now, so you feel the most loved and you believe it. It is so wonderful to meet your love and yourself here in this moment. So you scream, you yell, you wave your arms and that swift, searching love turns around and sees you. You in all of yourself. You that has turned into you over the Pyrenees, through Navarre, across the terrible, flat meseta where you could see your destination for miles and miles before you arrived, up into the beauty of Galicia and finally here. At this almost-the-end crossroad. Under a tree. Pursued by a man who loves you.

When you walk the Camino de Santiago, you meet some interesting people. Yourself included.

Danielle Buckley Park walked the Camino de Santiago in the spring of 2011. She is currently living in Seoul, South Korea with her husband, 15-month old son, and dreaming of a full night’s sleep. She is also enjoying a visit from that very same Canadian Julie and missing that very same Canadian Etienne. When she writes, she writes at Wonju Wife (http://tuesdaysborrower.blogspot.com), tweets @wonjuwife, and posts ridiculous amounts of photos of her son on Instagram as wonjuwife.

Question: What was the hardest thing you’ve done by choice?

This week on Totes Awesome Channel, we talk about our obsessions.

I found a new obsession to be anxious about regarding our trip to Paris which is in FOUR days. We made a reservation for our first five nights in Paris through Airbnb. I tried to confirm the stay with the person we booked with but she hasn’t be in touch after three emails. This makes me worry! I called Airbnb today and they are going to try to get a hold of her. If they cannot by the end of the weekend, we’ll have to find somewhere else. Come on lady! Contact me and save us some stress!

Weekend To Do List

• Pack for Europe
• Pack for friend’s wedding weekend after Europe
• Write wedding toast
• Schedule two more blog posts (guest posts)
• Buy mom Mother’s Day present
• Spend some quality time with Alan and Bob
• Complete as many tasks as I can for a philanthropy event by Austin Food Bloggers Alliance.

I’m taking off on Tuesday and will have limited internet access until I get back to Austin after Memorial day. I have at least three great guest blog posts centered around traveling that will post while I’m gone. Check in to see! The first one goes live on Wednesday.

I’ve been experimenting with plating my food. This meat and potatoes plate for last night’s dinner may be my favorite.

This week’s moments of bliss: ♥ impromptu Iron Man 3 date with Alan ♥ Double Chocolate Chunk Rice Krispy Treats ♥ Paris being FOUR days away ♥ Bob’s skip-pounce-run ♥ workday lunch date with Jamie ♥ emails with Ashley ♥ getting better connected with BFF (we were in a communication slump for a while) ♥ pretty lightening storms ♥ finally opening that jar of duck fat ♥ phone calls with mom and dad ♥ late night nachos on a work night

Question: What are you currently obsessed with?

]]> http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/05/friday-7-quick-takes-vol-131/feed/ 10 http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/05/2013-resolutions-progress-report-2/ http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/05/2013-resolutions-progress-report-2/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 18:15:24 +0000 Linda http://linda.curious-notions.net/?p=16953 I do one of these progress reports every two months. I can’t believe it’s already May and I’m due for my 2nd report! I made big headway on a lot of these goals but I haven’t started on a couple of them. Oops.

photo credit Personal Finance Save $1,000 in the Gift Fund for my parents. Done! I focused on this financial goal first since it was the smallest goal. I put some of my Christmas gift money and a third of my tax refund into this account. Make $3,000 outside from full-time job income. $474.78. 15.83% done. I’ve had this goal for three years now and have never achieved it. Last year I got somewhat close and my moonlighting as a food tour guide helped. That gig was short-lived after switching full time jobs because the new position is a much more challenging position. Previously my lab manager job was simple enough where I could do all my work and have time to pursue other endeavors. Pay down $4,500 in principal of student loans. $1983.01. 44% done. Outside of the trip to Paris, this has been my biggest financial focus. I just want all of it paid off right away. I regret not feeling this way before 2013 when all I did was pay the minimum. Open up a Roth IRA account with a new bank and deposit $2,000. No progress. I’m focusing on the student loans first. Projects Try 10 more Vietnamese recipes. 4/10. Since my last check in, I made one additional dish, cabbage and egg stir-fry. Bob helped. Complete 10 sewing learning projects. 4/10. I made 4 sets of 4 napkins. It took me hours to press and sew the corners and then sewing the seams with my mom’s direction and sewing machine. I had brought home enough material to make 5 sets but ran out of time. I strongly recommend square simple projects! I believe in repetition when it comes to learning a new skill. Finish transcribing dad’s journal. No progress yet. This will be difficult since I don’t read Vietnamese. I can guess his English words with his handwriting but it’s impossible to guess his Vietnamese proper nouns. I plan on transcribing everything that I can and then tagging the pages with blanks. I plan to take the journal to Houston when I visit to fill in the blanks. Read 50 books. 16/50. Write 104 blog posts for my food blog. 19/104. The goal was set at 104 to mean an average of 2 blog posts a week. Write 174 blog posts for this blog. 37/174 including this one. Which is terrible considering two months ago the count was at 34. Oops. Finish Sketchbook Project 2013 in time. I uploaded a copy of the entire book to my Google+ account. Visit two new states. Going to World Domination Summit in Oregon in July. SEE PARIS WITH KIM. We are flying out in 12 days! It’s going to happen! It’s all I can think and fret about lately. I’m also pretty much in awe that what seemed so financially daunting is happening! I was worried that with this goal and my other financial goals, I would fall short but I think I stand a strong chance so far. The Universe keeps throwing me bones! Relationships and Well-Being Work out 156 times for at least 30 minutes each session. 47/156. This goal was set to mean an average of 3 times a week. I’m only a one work out behind target. Cook 24 vegetarian dinners. 9/24. I’m on target! Broccoli Tofu Stir-Fry, recipe Send Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day cards. I sent a few cards out to single gal friends and my parents for Valentine’s Day. Question: What is something small you can do to set a foundation for a bigger goal of yours?

Follow along on Instagram.

This week on Totes Awesome Channel, we talk about the best piece of advice we have been given.

In the last couple of weeks, I saw two movies I loved so much.

The first one was Place Beyond the Pines. I’m not recommending this movie just because I’m a Ryan Gosling obsessed fan either! I just loved how the story unfolded and thought it was beautifully filmed. If you go see it, email me; I’d love to talk about it with you!

The second movie was Perks of Being a Wallflower. I read the book in high school and it was one of my favorite books for years. The writer directed the movie and I love it when the writers directs the movie adaptations. They are there to protect their interpretation of the original story! I dare you not to be charmed and moved by this movie.

Currently reading: Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In

Bob is battling a nasty stomach bug. He’s getting better but I am nervous feeding him solids again! This photo was taken before he got sick. I promise I don’t torture my pup when he’s down and out.

I’m planning another compilation video similar to this one.

If you’re interested in submitting a clip, send me an email.

This week’s moments of bliss: ♥ Perks of Being a Wallflower date with Anita ♥ fun admin lunch ♥ spontaneous lunch date with Nam ♥ 18 days till Paris! ♥ returned a lost dog ♥ took myself out of the house to read and eat by myself ♥ dinner with Anita & Alan ♥ motorcycle stunts ♥ being better about staying in touch with BFF ♥ long overdue phone date with BDF ♥ chats with my sister

Question: What was the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

]]> http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/friday-7-quick-takes-vol-130/feed/ 11 http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/friday-7-quick-takes-vol-129/ http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/friday-7-quick-takes-vol-129/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:07:02 +0000 Linda http://linda.curious-notions.net/?p=16915

This week on Totes Awesome Channel, we talk about our favorite shows.

Today marks 5 years with my little from Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America. I wrote about our first date here.

We are celebrating by going to the motorcycle races at Circuit of the Americas. It’s an awesome opportunity afforded to us by luck of the draw and a generous donation to Big Brothers & Big Sisters. I look at photos of her when she was eight and I can’t believe how much she’s grown. At 13 she can pass for much older! (Which is kind of scary to me.) Here’s to another five years!

I love Bob’s body language in this one. His paws make him look freaked out.

We’re 25 days out from leaving for Paris! I have been declining a lot of friend dates and dinner dates in an attempt to save up all my pennies. It makes me feel like a downer but the exchange rate and pricing over there is steeper than here! How soon is too soon to start packing?

This week’s moments of bliss: ♥ jazz club date with Alan ♥ beer bacon ramen ♥ beer grease croutons ♥ banana nutella cupcakes from my favorite cupcakery ♥ Boston loved ones are safe and their loved ones are safe ♥ 5 years with the little ♥ Kim and I exchanging everything we see about Paris ♥ good vegetarian night ♥ the comments on my last blog post ♥ finally getting to level 3 of Jillian Michaels ♥ conversations with dad during rush hour

Question: What shows do you watch?

]]> http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/friday-7-quick-takes-vol-129/feed/ 9 http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/birthday-travel-options/ http://linda.curious-notions.net/2013/04/birthday-travel-options/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:00:12 +0000 Linda http://linda.curious-notions.net/?p=16871

My 30th birthday is on the horizon and I have a few airline miles burning in my pocket. I’ve started thinking about how I want to celebrate my 30th. Here are few contenders I’m currently considering for a weekend trip.

1. Houston

   Obviously no airline miles are needed for Houston since I live in Austin. I always have a great time in Houston. I’ve never been to Houston with Alan. Since we’ve been together for five years, I think the Houston introduction is overdue! Plus some of my closest friends are in Houston. We can spend Friday night eating take out with my parents since they work all day. Saturday, I can show Alan around and grab dinner with whomever is free. Sunday, brunch with whomever is around before heading back to Austin. If I don’t do this for my 30th, I definitely should drag Alan to Houston soon regardless.

2. New York

   I’ve been missing New York like something fierce. I take 2-5 trips a year and told myself that I should stop going back to New York City until I cross off more states. I’ve been five times and the last time was 5 years ago! Best Dudie Friend still lives there and it would be great to see him in his element again. The only two cons to this plan are that I’ve been here before so it won’t fulfill any travel goals, and NYC in July can be a bit balmy.

   But man would I eat so good.

3. Baltimore

   I’ve never been to Maryland. If I go to Baltimore, I can scratch off one new state and fulfill my visit two new states resolution! I can also revisit Washington D.C. and see the Smithsonian again. I’ve always wanted to go back.



4. New Orleans

   My good friend, Jennifer lives in New Orleans. She just visited Austin last weekend and she told me I should visit her during her medical residency. Mmm. I love me some good Cajun food. The last time I was here was for New Years in 2006, pre-Katrina. Like New York, it won’t fulfill any travel goals but I salivate just thinking of the food in New Orleans.

5. Nashville

   I’ve never been to Tennessee. I very much want to eat Nashville and visit Elvis’s home and Dolly Parton’s park!

What do you think about these places for birthday weekend trips? Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could wrangle up a few people to meet me out of state? Until recently, my 30th has been a source of much anxiety. It wasn’t until I earned some miles from my new travel credit card that it’s become a source of fun daydreaming!