Next Stop Oslo
Just before going to sleep last night, at about one a.m. Central Time, it occurred to me it was my last full day in the U.S. for at least seven and a half months. That means no Whole Foods with seed bread, or car that waits in the driveway for whenever I decide to use it, or relying on the only language I had the luxury of learning before I was old enough to realize that learning to talk can be intimidating.
It seemed so long ago that we booked the tickets to Oslo – pretty much on a whim – declaring we could decide later whether it would be a short vacation or long-term undertaking. Now, here it is, just an evening away. Our stuff stored away, bags tightly packed, tomorrow night we get on the plane and embark on an entirely different way of life, a way of tapas and romance languages and continent-jumping and public transportation systems that work.
I am not unafraid, but I am undeterred. I’m not without concerns, but I am filled with curiosity. Not just about the places we haven’t yet seen, but about how I will be someplace else, who I will be someplace else.
I find one never truly knows until she gets where she is going.
So, for those who are curious, or might be in any of the following places, here is the current itinerary of what a friend has dubbed SAREA (Shawna and Riley’s Excellent Adventure) with approximate landing times:
Oslo
Paris
Seville (landing June 13th & leaving at the end of August)
Bodrum, Turkey (landing early September, leaving late October)
Cappadocia
Istanbul
Madaba, Jordan (near Amman)(November)
Petra
Aqaba
Bucharest, Romania
Sofia, Bulgaria
Belfast (Early December)
London
Paris
Prague
Vienna
Rome
Madrid
La Manga Strip (landing late-December)
The crazy December is to see as many cities at Christmas/Christmas markets as possible, and currently we are planned/booked through January 22, 2015.
Last night in the U.S. for more than seven months is also the last night in New York for more than seven months. Guess I’ll have to drown that thought in Cava.
And away we go.