thehostelwitness

unemployed

well, i guess i'm unemployed now. just a few days until Seattle and then after that, Copenhagen.

Everyone in the office was very gracious with my leaving - i was given a bunch of camping equipment which will come in handy, as well as a "city pass" for use in Copenhagen, giving me free reign of museums and transit for the first three days of my trip. Thanks guys, you have really helped what was a hard process much easier to handle.

my apartment is half filled with boxes and half filled with garbage. its an absolute mess, but slowly i'm gaining headway into paring down my belongings. i've raised a good amount of money by selling the furniture, enough that the ticket to europe and the rail pass are nearly paid for.

just another week and we can get this show on the road.

In Your Pocket

I've picked up quite a few different guidebooks the last few weeks: Lonely Planet, Moon, Rick Steves, etc. To figure out which was the best for a certain region, I hit the thorntree forums. It was  here that I was introduced to quite possibly the funniest guidebook series, In Your Pocket. These seem to have originated in Eastern Europe, so have proved to have access to a wealth of information that the other "western" publishers haven't been able to touch (we'll see how accurate they are in a few weeks...). What makes them funny though is the frankness and lack of utter patience they seem to have with douchebags and shitty, over-hyped venues. To wit:

"A despicable 'face control' door policy ensures that you probably won't get in, so we suggest you don't bother going at all. If you're not a part of the pretty little clique you will be confronted with a 'private party' lie. Apparently, being human is not good enough for the vile, loathsome slime who run this place. If you are unlucky enough to get in, you'll find some lovely and lively decoration and, we have to assume, more contemptible, dim-witted arrogance. Don't waste your time. Closed Mon, Sun, and all the time if you're ugly."

"We came on a Thursday night and thought there were four people in here. But then we realized that the two corner walls behind the dance floor are mirrors, and all four people were the same person. Then we drank lots of absinthe and found that all twelve of the four people were also the same person as well."

"Orange people who spend more on haircuts than food seem to come here quite often. They look a bit scary under UV light - all you get to see is teeth and bra straps - but normal people also come here so you're not going to feel too overrun by anorexic Ooompa Loompas."

I only wish these guys could spend a weekend visiting the Meat Packing district...In Your Pocket, are you hiring??

2 weeks and counting

So it struck me this weekend that I had two weeks left until I flew home to Seattle, which by extention means that I have less than 2.5 weeks until I leave on the trip. The nerves are definately with me now, no doubt about it.

Katie had some really nice things to say about this trip on her blog, which brings me to the point of this post. I've been really awed by the amount of support everyone has been showing me. I just spent a half hour on the phone with a senior VP of Volt, upping the total to three major stakeholders who have personally contacted me wishing me well. Thank you to those that have sent emails and called expressing your encouragement - its been very reassuring.

Tickets for Copenhagen have been bought!

Holy freaking cow. Tickets have been bought.

I fly from Seattle direct to Copenhagen on Oct 4th, where I'll start two weeks of travelling Scandinavia before meeting up with Andrew of Goonfest fame in Amsterdam. From there we go to Lithuania!

The ticket is an "open-jaw" ticket, a cool way of saying that I fly into Copenhagen and return to Seattle by way of London on Dec 4th to get geared up for my trip down to South America.

Purchased:
1 Round trip ticket (via airfare.com): $842

Spent: $1902

The announcement

In my inbox today sat waiting a draft announcement that Patrick had put together to send out concerning my departure.

"This was not an easy email to write," it starts.

I replied back, "This was not an easy email to read!"

For over 8 years I've worked at Volt. All of my managers there - Sheila, Patrick, Rob, Scot - have all become good friends of mine, even with the small barriers I put in place to keep work seperate from my private life. Volt was my first job out of school, was where I met my first "serious" girlfriend (for all of three months, but still), and afforded me the opportunity to buy my first house and first car. Reading his announcement was like reading an obituary.

Patrick called me shortly after I replied, where we sketched out my last four weeks. Towards the end of the call he said, "I was hoping that the email would jar you and have you change your mind - its not too late, you know."

The surprising thing is that after all I've gone through, I thought about it. Strangely enough, that's when I realized that I had to go through with this, if only because its the scariest single thing I've done since leaving for college. That twinge to change my mind - that twinge of doubt essentially is the whole reason I'm doing this. I recognize that as much as I love this company and the people here, its become a huge safety blanket. I haven't done anything with my life in the last 8 years without first thinking about my job.

This is responsibility gone amok and is not something that I like about myself. So I just laughed to cover up that second of doubt and said to Patrick, "You know, the fact that I even thought about changing my mind just means I have to go."

Being scared can be a good thing.

The story thus far...

I'm looking at the calendar and realizing that I only have a few more weeks until I become an unemployed globe-trotter. My palms get a little sweaty just thinking about it.

Turning in my notice to Patrick last week was the capper to a very stressful week which included my luggage being lost and worst of all, my dog passing away. By the time I walked into his office, I was so ready to get my trip over with that I didn't even hesitate or pause. Part of me wonders if he took my fatigue from the week as general burnout. Either way, its done.

One thing I am going to be doing at the end of each post is to update you as to how much I've spent so far. Part of it is a way to keep expenses down - you guys will keep me honest. The main reason though is for those that have never travelled abroad who stumble across this page. Hopefully, you can use this information to help plan your own extended trip.

My trip officially starts with 3 days in Seattle to visit family on October 1st. I was able to use airline miles and will be travelling free. I should have enough remaining for a flight back to New York before connecting to an international flight.

Purchased:
Eurorail pass (15 days in 2 months): $1060

Spent: $1060