Preparing to go and then some ...

Leaving is not the hard part, but getting ready is!

I was born to journey, to go, to feel connected to the wanderlust that resides within us.

A long trip, 5 weeks to be exact, takes time to plan out. Not every detail of course but with the timing of our trip, late August through early October, we decided it would be nice to have a rough outline.  I've actually always liked outlines; just enough to get you going but not enough that you can't create your own story or change your mind in the end. 

 It is mesmerizing to explore all the options available to you in these far away lands from the comforts of your own home. For me that means, PJs and coffee in hand, drooling over all the awesomeness that is to come. There are so many tool these days too that help you get good accurate information. I use Travelocity.com and Tripadvisor.com for most reviews, tips, and traveler bewares. Also you can get contact information and connect directly with the hotel, which is recommended in some places. Especially the ones that are a little more remote like Morocco and parts of SE Asia.

I've spent months planning, looking, reading reviews, organizing, and connecting with people, trying to find the best of the best for our adventure. Not the best things really, but instead the simple pleasures, the most different, the weirdest and kindest things we can do the better. I want to see a different side of humanity. One that is not within the US confines of culture and media, social hype and stereotypes. I guess they'll have there own misrepresentations of the way things should be but at least it will be a divergent opinion from what I'm used too. I try and read some history too cause we are shaped by the things that come before, there is no way around it. 

Our trip, will be epic! 

5 weeks in Europe and Northern Africa, 6 countries, and lots of towns and cities in-between. My partner in crime is a seasoned traveler and a wonderful companion for this journey across the pond and beyond. We will be visiting family in London and a friend in Paris. We are luckily to have both during our travel abroad and are looking forward to getting a local feel and a trusted source on how to find the best French 75s. 

Where to go and what to see, you ask.
We will be traveling around Europe and hitting Morocco, yes Africa. 

It will be no surprise to anyone that knows me well, that my first stop had to be Amsterdam and the only place we'll spend time twice. The other emerald city in my heart! My life has been so influenced, both for the good and the bad, by a single plant. I've always been a lover of dirt and the things grown in it, I'm an avid gardner to this day, but this plant was very different. Things are finally starting to change in the states; People are seeing the medical benefits as well as the, unfortunate but inevitable, commercial benefits too. Amsterdam has always had acceptance for this style of life and activity. I want to see it, before its something of the past.

A beautifully old city, with deep history and scars, built alongside canals and open public spaces where you can partake in almost any of your heart's delights, all of them if need be, with no abasement from others.  I'm hoping for kindness, I'm longing to connect. 

Amsterdam, I come to you giddy, wide-eyed, yearning for an acceptance, a welcoming to the part of me most unknown and a side I'm so ready to explore....

May the journey begin ...