What a book! Not in the sense that it’s a great book. I mean, it is, but that’s really not what has me exclaiming it’s “what a book!” quality. This book has taken me on a strange ride. And if you’ll join me, I’ll now drag you along this adventure that I’ve had with this book.
It all started when I saw the book on Tia’s bookshelf in her Brooklyn apartment. Actually, it all started (don’t get confused already!) when my friend Isis told me that I had to read this book because I reminded her so much of the author. Pah! Nobody is like me I thought. She went on to say that it wasn’t necessarily the content of the book, put the author’s sarcastic, witty nature that made her think of me. Hmmm, I pondered (this is the way that I go about pondering). I’ll take it. I’ve always been fond of my wit and sarcasm (except for that one time when I was working at this cult [a crazy long story] and my boss bashed me for being sarcastic, pretty dramatic).
Anyway, so when I saw the book on Tia‘s shelf. I asked to borrow it. Not sure if she said yes, but the book ended up with me on the way to DC. No, I’m not a thief, clearly she said yes (or did she?).
I’m not sure what month this was. I’m also not sure when I finally decided to open the book. I am certain that it was after I cut my hair, decided to quit my job and bought a ticket to Europe on a whim.
That golden ticket to Europe was what sucked me right into the book. Here was Lizzie (and she does remind me of myself. I can definitely see me breaking down in tears in a bathroom, and then there’s also that little depression thing) and she was going to Rome. And what do you know, it was also a very whimsical idea on her part. Now her decision to add India and Indonesia to the itinerary, I’m pretty sure that’s not what I would have picked, and I wasn’t so sure that I was going to join her there.
And for the most part I was right. Or at least so I thought. After I read the first section on Italy. I put the book down for a bit. I’m one of those people that can sit and read books in a matter of two days. I didn’t want to rush this one. Because here was Lizzie, and for the first time I felt like someone finally understood this urge for freedom that I had and this passion to just get up and stay awhile somewhere else (she has to be a Pisces).
Another reason that I put the book down was because I was rethinking this grand tour of Europe that I had planned. No, Lizzie didn’t turn me off to the idea of Rome. She actually made me want to go more than I ever had. I mean seriously, how can hearing about great food and attractive men be anything but enticing.
But, I had a very tough decision to make. My big eurotrip included hitting at least five countries, 10 at the most. However, I had a business to run and that means I needed some access to the Internet. And I knew that running around from place to place would make it a bit difficult to feel settled, preventing me from doing any amount of work. More importantly, I decided that I wasn’t that type of traveler anyway. I like to go places and sit for awhile. Learn the people. I’m not big on sightseeing. I just want to be sucked into a place and experience it for what it is.
I still had to go somewhere. I subletted my apartment for the month to cut down on costs for my trip. I could have always canceled on the guy, but that would have made me feel terrible. So, I did what I did best. I started doing some research. I looked for good flights and stumbled onto a flight to Salvador, Brazil for $650 dollars. Shite! Flights to Brazil are normally twice that amount, so this was more than a good deal, woot! (Thank you recession! Not really. Ok maybe a little bit of thanks for this sweet deal, but screw you for everything else).
I’d been hearing great things about Salvador for months. There was my Swedish couchsurfer friend that I met on Twitter (so maybe she’s really my Twitter friend) that came back from Brazil and gushed about the wonderful time she had there and that she couldn’t wait to make it back. Then there was another couchsurfer from London that I showed around DC. He told me that he was in Salvador and almost didn’t leave the place. In all his travels, he had never felt so much at home. And then there was my roommate, who kept talking about visiting the place under the guise of doing volunteer work.
Ticket bought. I was going to Salvador. Forget the fact that I didn’t know anybody there. Or that this was my first time traveling alone. Or that I didn’t speak a lick of Portuguese (I never realized what a big problem this was until I got there). I was going. And it was going to be a solid trip (.com)
To be continued…
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May 27th, 2009 → 9:00 am @
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