Some thoughts...

So I never got to that "later this week" travel post that I mentioned last time I wrote here.  Nor did I cover the packing lists for any of the other trips I made in the past year or the three trips (Norway - amazing, Amsterdam - pretty cool, Killarney - lovely) I've gone on in the past couple of weeks.

The reason for this is pretty simple:  I didn't like what I did with the last post.  It didn't feel genuine or very useful.  And when I don't like something I've done, I, like most people, pretend that I haven't done it.

The packing list posts that I was so enthusiastic about a bit ago will not happen.  Will I still do the traveling on budget airlines post to round out the whole travel-blog-living-in-Europe bit?  Yes.  Will this blog continue on much after that?  Probably not.  It is likely that it will be abandoned to the lonely world of the interwebz for those occasional expat-blog.com users to find until some point in the future when I will probably rediscover it and feel inspired by new adventures to add something to it.

When I look back at what I've written in the past year, there are certainly posts that make me happy and that I am proud of, particular phrases that I fall in love with when I read them (yep, I fall in love with my own words, it's cool).  It's just that I don't get that warm, fuzzy feeling when I think about writing something new here, and blogging for fun should be just that - fun.

I have four weeks left here in Ireland, and it is likely that after that, I will not be returning to Europe again for several years.  Which feels a little strange, since I've come to Europe every year since 2006.  There are still a few places that I need to visit (Greece, Istanbul, southern France), but those will have to wait. It's not that I won't be traveling, I just need to do so in some new places, both near and far from home.

I will also still be writing, just not in this location.  At this point, I want to just write for me for a while.  Sometime tomorrow evening/early Monday morning I will be submitting my Master's thesis to be printed and bound, and after creating a 100+ page document with only my examiners' approval in mind, I feel like it's time to get back to me.

So there it is, my thoughts as they stand late at night in the final throes of thesis agony (that may sound a bit extreme, but this really has reached the point of physical pain - I have managed to sprain my wrist through overuse and unhealthy typing positions).  Expect a post sometime in the next 4 weeks about the joys of Ryanair and Easyjet, and after that, it'll be back to the desert for me.

P.S.-Just realized that tomorrow is my blog's birthday!  A perfect time for reflection, yes?

Travel Plans and Trip Review - 5 days in Barcelona

I finally have all of my travel plans for the rest of the summer worked out!

My sister arrives for her trip around Europe today.  She's going to be here in Galway until Monday, and then we are going to Norway!  We're going to spend 5 days there, then I will return to Ireland while she continues on her journey.  Then we are going to meet in Amsterdam on August 2 for 4 days.

And then 2 weeks later, Phil arrives!  We're going to take a trip up to Northern Ireland his first weekend here, and then after my symposium (which officially ends my program!) we are going to Edinburgh for 2 days, followed by 6 days in Rome and Florence and 7 days going around Croatia!  Woot woot!  After that, I have 2 more days in Galway before I head back home to Tucson.

So I'm checking off nearly everything on that list I posted in April, except for Budapest and a music festival (and more people visiting!).  I figure I can go to a festival in the States anyhow, but I am sad about Budapest.  I do intend to return to Europe in a few years to see Greece and Turkey, so perhaps I will get there then.

And now for my trip review!  The first one will be of the first trip I took after I moved to Galway.  This was a 5(ish) day, 4 night trip to Barcelona, Spain with Ariel and Sarita in early September.  I flew on Ryanair, and brought only a carry-on.  The budget airlines that have such great fares around Europe have rather strict baggage policies - I plan to go more into detail about those in another post later this week.

Packing list:
2 tops
1 cami
1 tank top
1 halter top
2 skirts
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of sneakers
1 pair of pajamas (t-shirt + gym shorts)
1 rain jacket

Purchased there:
1 tank top

On the plane ride over, I wore my jeans (thrifted), tennis shoes (Converse), cami (Forever 21), and a 3/4 length sleeved top (JC Penny).  However, I arrived quite late that night, so did little more than get to the hostel before I was in my pajamas.

On the second day, I wore the cami under the tank top (Forever 21), and paired them with a geometric skirt (Forever 21).  I also wore the one pair of sandals (Payless) that I brought.

This was a mistake, both the wearing of these particular sandals and the bringing of only one pair.  I had forgotten about the whole hostel/shared bathroom/not the most sanitary showers issue, and thus had forgotten a pair of flip flops to wear in the shower.  I ended up wearing these sandals, which have two straps, that whole over the big toe look that was popular a while ago, to shower instead, and in the process managed to wash off some sort of coating from the insides of the straps.  Walking around Park Güell and La Rambla for hours that day and dancing at bars and and crazy clubs until 5 am resulted in nasty blisters that I still have scars from.  Remember:  flips flops are required when staying in hostels.

On the third day, I reverted to wearing my sneakers to help protect my injured feet.  Even while at the beach.

And the beach was pretty much the only place we went that day, although we did manage to get some delicious juice.

I wore them with white shorts (Forever 21) and my other top (Charlotte Russe), and honestly, I felt a little more European with the combination of shorts and Converse high tops.  Not entirely sure why, and I probably just seemed crazy to everyone else.

On the fourth day, I wanted to wear my second skirt (thrifted).  However, I still had blisters on my feet.  The following odd combination and color clash resulted:

In addition, the tank top I had purchased the day before to wear with the skirt was rather voluminous, and looked very odd with this wrap skirt.  Thus, I found myself wearing just the cami this day (Don't worry, I had washed it in the sink the day before so it was clean at this point!).

Since this was another day spent walking all around the city, I was more concerned with comfort than appearance anyways.  However, I did sacrifice comfort that night, as we were going out on the town again.

This black halter (Forever 21) and white shorts finished with a pair of green sneakers would have been just a bit too strange, even for me.

The final day in Barcelona saw us all feeling tired and a bit sick:

That voluminous tank top I had purchased was my only clean shirt, so I threw it on with the jeans I had worn on the plane ride over, along with a scarf  I had purchased from a street vendor there.  Overall, this wardrobe, which featured lots of white, an oddity for me, worked well on this trip, when temperatures were in the 80s and the skies were always sunny.  But please, remember to bring a second pair of sandals for summer travels.  Not only would a pair of flip flops have proved a better option for showering than the strappy sandals, they would have been wearable even with the blisters I had, since their straps would have hit different places on my feet than the strappy sandals. 

All of these clothes, along with my camera, underwear, snacks, towel, and other travel necessities fit fine into my carry-on, with some room to spare.  Next post, I intend to talk in more detail about packing for these sorts of trips, and how not to get ripped off by budget airlines.  Because that always sucks.

And now I must go meet Hillary at the bus station!  Hooray!

Let’s talk about packing

I haven’t been blogging much lately, or at all ever, but that’s ok.  See, I’ve been reading other people’s blogs instead!  Pretty much the same thing.

I’ve been looking at self-image blogs, baking blogs (need to make those chai cupcakes ASAP), silly cartoon blogs, and my new favorite, fashion blogs.

I am pretty far from the most fashionable person around:  many times, such as right now, I am content to lounge around in a t-shirt and gym shorts or pajamas and contemplate how long I can get away with not showering.  

Standard Shannon attire

But these fashion blogs have intrigued me.  I want to dress pretty when I leave the house.  I’ve even been making more of an effort to do that.  I want to feel happy and photo-worthy in whatever I wear.

Or so I think now.  It does seem like a lot of work.  Either way, I do not currently have the wardrobe or the reasons to make an effort each day with what I wear.  After all, I have a master’s degree to finish!  I will not be attempting a fashion blog.  I will continue to waste hours looking at blogs like this one, where people talk about how nice they look while working on their graduate degrees.   Oh…

But I will not let this go completely!  I have felt somewhat uninspired in much of my blogging, but I keep doggedly writing “travel/living abroad” dribble every month or so and shoving it into the faces of my facebook friends.  No more!  Well, maybe some more…

 

But now I am also going to talk much more specifically about certain aspects of my travels!   About what clothes I packed, how they worked out with the activities that location has to offer, and what I wish I had had on that trip.  And then I'll take some pictures.  And hopefully by doing this, I will start to put more thought and effort into the way I look, and that'll make me happy!

For the next few weeks, I am going to be writing about the trips I’ve taken since September, and when I’m done going through my travel archives, I will start posting stuff for trips before they happen.

That’s the plan, anyways.

Summahtime!

So, just over a month later, I have been to Bosnia and Spain and have finished all of my work for the spring semester.

Woot woot!!!!!!!!!!

Now all that is left to do is my dissertation, which will be completely finished on August 23, exactly 4 months from now.

In the intervening time, I'd like to:

1.  Go home for 3 weeks.

2.  Be visited by Sarah, Sarah, and Ariel.

3.  Be visited by my parents.

4.  Be visited by my sister.

5.  Go to Amsterdam.

6.  Go to Italy.

7.  Go to Scotland.

8.  Go to Croatia.

9.  Go to Budapest.

10.  Go somewhere farther north in Europe.

11.  Go to a music festival.

12.  Go to Northern Ireland.

13.  Write my dissertation.

So that's the plan!  We'll see how much actually happens.  Some of it will take place in the time between August 23 and September 10, when I'm planning on going home.  Any other suggestions of what I should do?

Wallowing

I want to go home...

So it's been about an hour since I posted that first, rather whiney, sentence and since then, I've showered, put on some clean clothes, eaten breakfast, and overall decresed my wallowyness.  It stemmed in the first place from sadness that Phil had gone home after his week long visit, and morphed into homesickness and a bit of jealousy that he got to go home but I didn't.

But rather than focus on all that, I'll talk about what we did while he was here!

The afternoon of his arrival we ate at a pub (the super touristy King's Head), and then I had to have a group meeting for my Bosnia project group at my house, but that was alright because Phil just ended up sleeping.  The next day, I fed him porridge and tea to get him started with the Irish breakfast food (which I think he is now obsessed with).  We then wandered around town, but the weather was horrible (typical Irish weather...) so we didn't do that for very long.

Saturday and Sunday we spent on Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands.  I have been to all three of the islands and the smaller ones have less tourist influences, but there is also less to do.  We stayed at Noirin Ui Ghoill's B&B and it was great.  Our hostess was friendly and helpful and the breakfast was perfect.  Phil had a full Irish breakfast (something he's been looking forward to since I told him about it last summer) and I had beans and toast, along with cereal and brown bread.  Phil became jealous of the fact that I had beans and toast and he didn't, and insisted that we have it another two times for breakfast while he visited.

We rented bikes on Inis Mor from the place underneath Supermac's, and the first day rode past the seal colony, up to Dun Aenghus, and then went to the Wormhole.  Those are the three main must-sees on the island.

Phil looking down at the Wormhole

We had dinner at Ti Joe Watty, which is a surprisingly lovely pub.  I had vegetable soup and Phil had seafood chowder which amazed him.  He got seafood chowder at two other restaurants while visiting but nothing matched up to the chowder at Joe Watty's.

The second day we rode to the southeastern tip of the island and wandered around the beach and cliffs.  There was nobody around and it was gorgeous.  The weather took a turn for the worse that afternoon, but considering we'd had over 24 hours of clear skies, we were pretty damn lucky.


That was the main event of Phil's trip.  Monday I did homework, Tuesday we wandered around town and I did homework, Wednesday I went to class and then did some homework.

But Thursday was St. Patrick's Day!  I didn't even think about doing homework.  I had heard that St. Patrick's day in Ireland is actually a much smaller event than in the US, and while this was true, it was still a much bigger celebration than what we have in Tucson.  Phil and I went into town in the afternoon and watched the parade, and the crowd was full of people wearing green leprechaun hats and being silly.  We had some Guinness cake at a tea shop, and then wandered around the streets and had shamrocks painted on our faces by a random lady.  We got a pint with a couple of my classmates at a pub, then bought some frozen pizzas and beer and went back to a classmate's house to celebrate the evening.  While that might seem lame, it was actually the best choice because all of the pubs were PACKED with people that evening.

While I am writing this blog from Ireland, I know that stuff about Ireland is actually pretty lacking here.  So that is a little bit about traveling in Ireland!  Go to Inis Mor and come for St. Patrick's day and it won't be lame!  I also went to Portugal a couple of weeks ago, and that was awesome!  Go to Guimarães!  There's a castle!

Castle!

I'll probably do another travel review looking in more depth at everywhere I've been in the summer, but until then my posts will be rambly and random :)

So what is Shannon doing, anyways?

Well, today, I woke up at noon, and really haven't done anything in the 7 hours since then.

During the nearly two months since my last post, I've... finished the first semester of my master's program, gone home for a while, and now I'm back for more studying.

But what am I studying, anyways?

This may seem like a silly question, but whenever anyone asks, the answer is never clear.

So let's just say I'm studying geography.  I am getting a Master of Arts degree in Geography.

This was labeled as "Geography Fail" in the google search...

So a master geographer!  That means I should know all about where places are, right?!  Like these places:

 

Hmmn...  I'm gonna be like this guy!:

And how about a map to go with that?  Geographers love maps!:

Now that I've gone a little video crazy... we'll say that I am studying Environment, Society, and Development.  Or more like... Geopolitics, Intervention, and Development.  Yes, I'd say that's slightly more accurate.

I'm not studying maps, I don't know where places are, but I can tell you that in a couple of months, I'm going to a country that didn't exist in Yakko's World!

I'm actually just spending hours getting through this list:  http://youshouldhaveseenthis.com/

Spectacular.



P. S. - If you cried a little bit while watching the first video, you're not alone :)