Kindess of strangers

This is gonna be another long once since I'm writing it on the bus to my next destination and there's a few hours to kill. I've got lots to say (what else is new?) so I may as well go chronologically.

After publishing my last post, I ended up having a great time in Dublin. Go figure, right? My last night there was by far the best. I ended up in the common room of the hostel in the evening to use my netbook to plan a few things for my trip to the west coast, and there was some rugby on tv. Naturally this drew a few guys into the room, and I was soon getting a crash course in rugby 101. It's great to see that male-bonding via sports isn't only a North American phenomenon! A few of us hit it off, so we decided to make our way to a pub. It was me, a German guy, and an Irish guy who said he had found some pub on the other side of town that had good music. Turns out it was a rock/metal pub. There was a terrible Black Sabbath cover band playing, and I think we were the only 3 people in there without long hair and/or multiple piercings and tattoos. Needless to say it was a blast. We rocked out to the terrible music, wincing every 30 seconds or so when the feedback would whine. Turns out punk rock Irish girls think that straight-laced Canadian boys are fun to try to corrupt. I declined their generous offer to tattoo me (you're welcome mom!). When the pub closed we headed back to the hostel, grabbing some late night chips on the way home. All in all, I had plenty of fun, just when I had given up on Dublin.

The following day I made my way to the west coast by bus and experienced my first semi-big fuck up. There were a couple hiccups along the way on the bus, but nothing that some patience couldn't fix. However, when I got to what I thought was my destination, it turned out that my hostel was another 25 miles away. Being Sunday evening in a small town, there were no more buses running, so I had to take a taxi. I don't like to talk about money much, but the fact is, when you're travelling for as long as I am, you have to keep a close eye on your finances. I've got my budget broken down by month and by day so that I know exactly how much I'm spending vs how much I have left. The taxi ride alone cost more than my entire day's budget. At first I was angry, frustrated and stressed about this, but I eventually calmed down. I know it's not all going to be smooth sailing, so if the worst that happens to me is overspending for transportation, then I'll be laughing. Also, luckily, I had stayed well under my daily budget during my first week in Dublin, so I'll likely end up breaking even for the month anyways. Anyways, I arrived at my hostel finally after about 7 hours on the road and checked in. I went up to my room and saw that there were no bags or unmade beds. I was hoping that nobody else would end up in my room that night so I could sleep without having to hear anybody snore for once. Turns out I didn't have to worry, since I figured out the next day that not only was I the only person staying in my room, I was the only person staying in the whole hostel. I did what any young man who's been on the road for a while would do with all this privacy... I washed my socks and underwear in the bathtub and left them hang drying in the bathroom! Cause I'm gansta like that.

Monday might have been my favourite day yet on my trip. The hostel was in a small town called Miltown Malbay, and is only a mile or two from the ocean. I decided to walk down to the water and see what there was to see. Turns out there was a very nice beach there called Spanish Point. I walked along the beach for a while, but decided that wasn't adventurous enough for me, so I walked along the rocks that were to the right of the beach for as far as I could. I must have walked along them for at least 30 minutes before I had to turn back. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since I almost slipped and broke my ankle/neck about a half-dozen times, but I survived. On my way out, I decided to sit and rest and watch the water for a bit. After a few minutes a little old lady who had been walking with her scruffy little dog along the water came up to leave, and the dog came right over to me to be pet. I asked the woman about her dog, and after 5 minutes of conversation, she invited me back to her place for lunch. Her tone wasn't even a “I know I'm being nice” tone, it was just a genuine “are you coming or what” tone. I was floored. So I hopped in her car with her and her dog (turns out it was actually named Scruffy) and we went to her cottage. She was an awesome person, had lots of stories, and was as bit of a globetrotter herself. She'd even been to Ottawa back in 1955. So she made me a big plate of curry and rice, gave me a guiness, and we talked. My favourite moment was when she was asking me about my family. I told her my sister had just become a nun, and this lady who couldn't have been younger than 80 gave a weird look and said “oh my, swearing off sex for your entire life? I could never do that!” I didn't know whether to blush or give her a high five. She offered me a ride back to town after lunch, but I told her I could wait since I knew she had to go into town a little later for a doctor's appointment anyways. I said I'd take a walk to stay out of her way in the meantime, so she gave me directions to this really cool cemetery down the road from her. There were gravestones that were over 150 years old in there...very beautiful with all the Celtic crosses. So she dropped me off in town and I said goodbye and promised to keep in touch (she gave me her business card...she's a painter and author of children's books). So why is having lunch with an old lady so memorable and worthy of a long-ass paragraph you may be asking yourself? I've always thought it's the people you meet who make travelling so special. In 10 years from now, I won't remember what the beach looked like or probably even the name of the town, but I'll definitely remember Jennifer, the sweet, yet slightly dirty-minded grandma who took me in for lunch and told me stories of wartime England.

The following day I went to see the Cliffs of Moher. I booked my hostel because it was only 25 km or so from them, so shouldn't be a big problem getting there, right? Wrong. There's only one bus that leaves Miltown the entire day, and it leaves at 8:30 in the morning. So I made sure to get up early to catch it. It was me and about 50 school kids, since they all take the public bus to the various schools in the area. This bus dropped me off in a town halfway to the cliffs, called Lahynch (sp?). Turns out the only bus to the cliffs leave Lahynch at 11, so I had a couple hours to kill. It was pouring rain so I just ducked into the nearest restaurant to sip a coffee as I read. I eventually caught the bus and went to the cliffs. They were absolutely spectacular. The only problem is your visibility when you're at the cliffs is weather-dependant. When i got there it was still raining and kind of foggy, but still clear enough to see the cliffs and get some decent pictures. Within about 30 minutes though the visibility was reduced to zero and you couldn't see a single cliff. Luckily just before I was leaving, it cleared up and I could see further than ever...turns out there was a whole extra cliff that I couldn't see the first time! I took the bus back to Lahynch, and of course had to wait a couple more hours for the bus to Miltown so I decided to explore the town and take advantage of the sunny weather. I'm really glad I did. Turns out Lahynch is a surfer town, as there's a huge beach with big waves. It was less than 5 minutes from the restaurant I had my coffee at in the morning, and I would have never seen it had it not been for the long wait for the bus, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise. No old ladies or free lunch this time, just a great view and some sun.

Well, I guess I've gone on way too long already. I'm actually heading back to Dublin right now. I wanted to move North along the West Coast, but it's just too difficult since the buses are so sporadic out here. I'll stay in Dublin tonight and then head up to Belfast tomorrow. Thanks for sticking all the way through this post (or scrolling down to see if I posted any pictures). As a reward, here are some pictures of Spanish Point and the cemetery, and the Cliffs of Moher and the Lahynch beach. Til next time!

Dublin Down

Hello from Dublin! Lots of people have been asking for more blog so here it is. Dublin's been good so far, but I wouldn't call it great. I had a tough time with the jetlag/adjusting to the different time (5 hours ahead of Ottawa) for the first few days. I didn't sleep on the plane, so getting around Dublin on zero sleep was an interesting experience. Funnily enough, I booked my hostel based on price, and had no clue where it was before I showed up. Turns out it's literally a stone's throw (I didn't actually try throwing a stone, but even Trent Edwards could do it) away from the hostel I stayed at during my last trip to Dublin. So at least I knew the neighbourhood. I slept most of the first afternoon I was here as well as the entire night, and most of the next day. Since then, I've unfortunately struggled with getting a full night's sleep, often waking up at around 3 or 4 am without being able to fall back asleep. Ah well, you're not here to read my troubles though, so let's move on.
Dublin's a fun city, but there's only so much you can see on a budget. I think I've managed to find a decent balance between enjoying myself and not spending all my money too early. Some things I've done:

• Taken lots of walks through the city, down the Liffey, by Temple Bar, and just about everywhere else
• Ducked into various pubs for a pint. My favourite pub so far is a small one that's about 4 blocks away from my hostel, named Malloy's. Very quaint with lots of characters. Listening to the regulars bust eachothers chops about soccer, etc as I read a book or an Irish rag and sip a Guinness brings a smile out of me every time.
• Took a walking tour of Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells
• Saw the museum of art and history, mainly the history side. They have a great exhibition on the history of the Irish military and the various conflicts that have happened here (there's been a couple for those non-history buffs). Highly recommended. I've got a few photos in the album below but had to stop because I got scolded for taking pictures. I didn't know that I couldn't, I swear!
• Strolled around Phoenix park - a beautiful gem hidden away from the busy city centre.

My time in Dublin comes to an end on Sunday. I'm looking forward to moving on to the countryside, to see something new. I'll be heading out to Ennis, which is on the west coast, to see the Cliffs of Moher. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Please feel free to email me or leave a comment below, I love hearing from everybody.

As promised, here are my pictures so far: The Hockey HOF and Dublin.

And as a bonus, I didn't say "shit" once in this blog, Julie! ...ah shit

There's no crying in hockey!

Fair warning, this blog is being written at a swiss chalet in the Pearson airport because I've got lots of time to kill. So it's probably gonna be a windy one. And a little emo. If you're only reading this to find out about my drunken bar fights, missing trains in Switzerland, getting lost in slovenia, and other such travel adventures, I'd suggest skipping this one and waiting for the next post.
The trip's no longer a matter of months, weeks, or even days away. It's now only 5 hours away...assuming the flight's on time.
I'd like to expand on a subject I mentioned briefly in my first email...support from family and friends. It means a whole helluva lot to me. Saying goodbye to pretty much everybody I know for the last two weeks straight has been tough. It made me realise how many people I'm going to be leaving behind/missing over the next year (ok, 10-11 months, but let's just say a year. Don't be difficult). However, on the positive side, it's also made me realise how much support I have from everybody and how great my life truly is. Regardless of what happens on this trip, I know I'll be coming back home to a great bunch of people. I'm not going to single many people out, because seeing everybody has been great, but I would like to mention a couple groups.
The first is my parents. They were kind enough to drive me down to toronto for my flight. Mentioning this courtesy is like pointing out a drop of water in the ocean....their generosity and unwavering dedication to having my back (I need a thesaurus cause I can't think of another way to say support) not only for this trip, but for life in general means more to me than I could ever express in words. Hugging my mom goodbye was probably one of the hardest things I've had to do in my entire life. It got pretty emotional. And by that, I mean I cried like a little schoolgirl. Thanks mom and dad. I have no idea where I'd be without your love and support, but I do know that I sure as shit wouldn't be sitting in an airport waiting to take off on this journey. Sorry for swearing.
The other gang I'd like to mention is the guys. No crying here, except for Delage when I whooped him at hockey for one last time. Hanging out with the guys for my last night in Ottawa, having beers, playing video games, and trash talking was the perfect send off. nothing fancy, nothing special...just the guys being the guys. Can't wait to do it again when I get back... I figure a year should be long enough for Delage to practice and become a little less garbage. Dingaling!
To everybody else, please don't be offended that I didn't mention you...I could spend the entire flight writing about how great all my friends are and I still wouldn't have covered the half of it.
Ok, so I guess I've got one travel story. I did my first sightseeing today. My pops and I went to the hockey hall of fame. I highly recommend it for anybody who's into the game and in Toronto. We spent about 2 hours there, but could have easily spent another hour or 2 there if we didn't have to go. I've got pictures, which I'll post soon enough. Shitty story, I know. I'll try to do better in Dublin. Until then, stay classy Canada. Bye!

PS here's a dorky picture of me, leaving for the airport. Well first I had to put the camera back in my bag, but then I left for the airport.

Hello and farewell

Welcome to my mediocre-at-best blog! Thanks for taking an interest in my travels, it's awesome to know that I've got support from my friends and family (and any rando's that don't know me, but came across this site somehow) as I sojourn through Europe. This blog will be my way of sharing my experiences with everybody. I'll try to update it as regularly as possible, depending on the availability of internet access, the amount of cool shit that occurs that is blog-worthy, and how much I feel like writing while on this trip. That reminds me...there'll be some occasional salty language, sarcasm, and injections of my admittedly odd sense of humour. If that's not your cup of tea, feel free to take your internet perusing elsewhere. There's plenty of better blogs, more interesting websites, funnier videos of slightly off-kilter people who have been autotuned, etc that you'll enjoy more. Go ahead...nobody will blame you. In fact, come to think of it, most of the internet is probably better than this blog. What the hell are we still doing here?!

Anyways, back from my little rant. So I'm starting in Dublin. I'll be flying the red eye Monday and getting into Dublin Tuesday morning. It's weird finally having the trip set in stone. For the last few months, since I decided to do this trip, I've had absolutely zero logistics worked out. I thought this would be a fun way of doing the trip. What I didn't anticipate is having to answer "I don't know" every time somebody wanted to ask me about my trip. This happened roughly 94,534 times since I let people know I was going. I consider myself very fortunate to have so many people in my life that care about me enough to enquire about my trip. However, this got to be very repetitive and slightly frustrating. So, I no longer have no logistics worked out. I have one!
I figure the best way to get to the point of this initial post is to answer the most common questions I've been asked about my trip.

• Where are you starting? Dublin, pay attention.
• Where do you want to go while you're there? Anywhere and everywhere. I'll try lots of different places across the continent, and if I like a particular place, I'll stay a little longer. once I'm ready to get moving, I'll get moving.
• Are you going to work while you're there? Yes, but just here and there for room and board or perhaps a bit of travelling cash.
• Why are you so handsome? I just can't help it Matt
• Did you quit your job? No, I took a leave of absence from work. My supervisors were very understanding when I requested this, and I really appreciate their support.
• How long are you going for? I'm aiming for the end of July, but who knows how long I'll be able to stretch the money for. Regardless, I'm due back at work in August 2011.
• Are you going alone? Yes. Although I do hope that friends come out to visit me and that I meet new people to travel with.
• And perhaps the biggest one of them all: Why? Don't say revenge. Eat, pray, love changed my life. In short, I don't know why. I love to travel, so this was just something I wanted to do. I have a feeling I'll be better able to answer "why" when I get back.

So I guess that's it for my inaugural post. I'll try to update it as much as possible. If you catch me slacking, drop me a line and tell me to post more. This is my way of interacting with you, so don't be shy in posting comments (while keeping in mind that my mom and colleagues will be reading this), asking questions, giving tips on where to go next, or just to say hi.

See you later!