Planning

I’m planning.

Though it makes me sad to know that in about two months I’ll no longer live in Edinburgh, I’m getting excited about The Next Thing. The plans are starting to come together.  I’ll work until mid-September, at which point I’ll pack up and head to London for a few days (and possibly Bristol and/or Guildford), and then to Munich. That’s right kids, I’m going to Oktoberfest, and Andrea’s going to meet me there. We’re hoping to find accomodation that doesn’t include sleeping in Julia’s car, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Then! After three or four days of drinking GIANT BEER, I’ll head to Vienna, and then from Austria to Prague, and from there the plan is to not really have a plan, but to wander around Eastern Europe until I’m low on cash, and then cross my fingers and hope to find another job back in the UK.

I don’t know exactly how much money I’ll have at the end of the summer, but I’m saving like mad. To help stretch my money further as I travel, I’m planning to do some Couchsurfing. I think it’ll be a great way not only to save cash, but to get to know the places I visit better – it’s always great to have a local tour guide.  I’ll offer knitting lessons or proofreading services to anyone willing to take me in (I have a limited list of skills, it seems).

This prospect will probably make my family nervous, but rest assured guys, I’ll be safe about this. And Jeff, relax, you’ve seen Taken way too many times.

August is about to hit and with it a population explosion in Edinburgh. August = festival season, which means the Royal Mile fills with slow-moving tourists and flyer-distributing-performers and sword-swallowers and machete-jugglers and other forms of general chaos. We’re going to work our asses off, and party far too hard.

(PS – Yes, in the picture is a copy of Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon, his epic tome on bullfighting, because yes, I am planning to attend the Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, next year. That’s not until next July, but I have a habit of getting ahead of myself).