Getting Started
I’ve never written a blog before. See? I just ended the first sentence with a preposition (you have been warned).
I am 38 days into a 90-day trip to explore Europe (before I become a mom or have a 9-5 job or can’t find loving people I trust enough to watch my two dogs for that long).
This would have been much more compelling if I started 30 days before I left and you got to see the whole journey (“warts and all,”) from the day my partner and I booked the first international flight of our trip until now, but that’s not how it worked for me.
I was in Barcelona (the second city on our trip) texting a friend back home about the logistics of what we were doing. She asked if we were renting our house while we’re gone (we are through AirBnB) and if we quit our jobs (my husband is a developer working remotely, and I quit my job at a photo lab to write until we get back) and what our living situation was like.
“Are you writing a blog?”
I replied with a myriad of excuses (See? I know some vocab words. Your efforts in reading something with substance weren’t completely misguided.) about how it felt disingenuous to present something we were doing for ourselves as a whole-hearted effort to “educate,” people about “13 Must-See Attractions in Geneva,” or “The Hidden Art You Should Really Find in Berlin: It’s Not What You’d Think”.
I have a formal education (BA in Journalism), but it’s not from a fancy school. I’m privileged, but not in an interesting way (I don’t really have to work while I’m here, but I don’t have David Dobrik money). And mostly: I don’t know anything about art or other cultures. I know a couple of phrases in other languages (and use Duolingo half the time when it alerts me), but mostly I’ve just used Google Translate in the moment.
tl;dr: I’m p average, so why are we here?
Friend: “I think a blog would be awesome just so everyone could see what your day-to-day is. It’s pretty extreme to up and move away like that.”
So, here’s the mission statement: This blog is so anyone interested (mostly family/friends) can follow along with where we are in our exploration of Europe, see where we’re staying, learn from our (mostly my) mistakes and hopefully have some fun along the way.