BYO-TP
Check out my first tenant! I suspect this is the closest I'm ever going to get to owning something. She's a hip mom/teacher who isn't afraid to throw around a few curse words. My kind of gal.
I just read the most recent post of one of my favorite bloggers. In it, she tells her readers that she will be spending the summer in Egypt for an internship. This same girl recently returned from Greece and spent some time in Haiti this winter. She's even hoping to go to Israel while she's in Egypt. I'm sure to most people this all sounds thrilling. But for me, I just get mini-panic attacks over the idea of traveling abroad to exotic corners of the world.
Except for a trip to Mexico a couple years ago, I've never left the continental United States. It's not necessarily that I don't want to travel abroad, it's simply that I'm certain I couldn't do it on my budget. I suppose I could stay at a hostel, but a "hostel"? Really? They can change the spelling all they'd like, but as far as I'm concerned, it still sounds just like the word for 'unfriendly' or 'of or belonging to a military enemy'. On my dime, I'd have to stay in a place where guests are required to supply their own toilet paper and water; I simply am not down with a place that doesn't even provide the most basic tools required to maintain personal hygiene.
Beyond my budgetary constraints, which, let's face it, probably aren't going away, what scares me the most is the idea of not being able to communicate with anyone in the native language. I picture myself wandering around a strange urban square unable to find a bathroom, figure out the price of a leather good or determine how many points were in that croissant I just ate. Then I imagine myself starting to hyperventilate, causing me to pass out on the cobblestone, crack my head open, and bleed to death on the sidewalk, while the natives walk past the dying ignorant American who didn't even bother to learn how to say 'bathroom' 'leather' or 'points' in their language. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I'd just as soon play it safe and crack my head open on the pavement here in Chicago.
However, I can speak English and Spanish so I do have some options. As long as I can stay in a place that provides toilet paper and water, I think I could survive in these overseas destinations:
1. London
2. Anywhere in Spain, but especially Seville and Barcelona (I speak Spanish pretty well, and the more I drink, the more fluent I become)
3. Germany, but only with my boyfriend, who is fluent in German
4. Anywhere in Italy, but particularly Cloz in Trento where my grandma is from (I took Italian in college and, combined with my Spanish, I bet I could pull it off).
Of course, I'd be hated in these countries because I'd almost certainly do what I always do when I visit a new place, which is walk around comparing everything to Chicago, with the host city always coming up short in all comparisons. "Come se dice, 'the flan in Chicago is much better than it is in Spain'?"*
*I think that would be "El flan in Chicago es mucho mejor que el flan en Espana" but I'm sober so I could be way off.
I just read the most recent post of one of my favorite bloggers. In it, she tells her readers that she will be spending the summer in Egypt for an internship. This same girl recently returned from Greece and spent some time in Haiti this winter. She's even hoping to go to Israel while she's in Egypt. I'm sure to most people this all sounds thrilling. But for me, I just get mini-panic attacks over the idea of traveling abroad to exotic corners of the world.
Except for a trip to Mexico a couple years ago, I've never left the continental United States. It's not necessarily that I don't want to travel abroad, it's simply that I'm certain I couldn't do it on my budget. I suppose I could stay at a hostel, but a "hostel"? Really? They can change the spelling all they'd like, but as far as I'm concerned, it still sounds just like the word for 'unfriendly' or 'of or belonging to a military enemy'. On my dime, I'd have to stay in a place where guests are required to supply their own toilet paper and water; I simply am not down with a place that doesn't even provide the most basic tools required to maintain personal hygiene.
Beyond my budgetary constraints, which, let's face it, probably aren't going away, what scares me the most is the idea of not being able to communicate with anyone in the native language. I picture myself wandering around a strange urban square unable to find a bathroom, figure out the price of a leather good or determine how many points were in that croissant I just ate. Then I imagine myself starting to hyperventilate, causing me to pass out on the cobblestone, crack my head open, and bleed to death on the sidewalk, while the natives walk past the dying ignorant American who didn't even bother to learn how to say 'bathroom' 'leather' or 'points' in their language. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I'd just as soon play it safe and crack my head open on the pavement here in Chicago.However, I can speak English and Spanish so I do have some options. As long as I can stay in a place that provides toilet paper and water, I think I could survive in these overseas destinations:
1. London
2. Anywhere in Spain, but especially Seville and Barcelona (I speak Spanish pretty well, and the more I drink, the more fluent I become)
3. Germany, but only with my boyfriend, who is fluent in German
4. Anywhere in Italy, but particularly Cloz in Trento where my grandma is from (I took Italian in college and, combined with my Spanish, I bet I could pull it off).
Of course, I'd be hated in these countries because I'd almost certainly do what I always do when I visit a new place, which is walk around comparing everything to Chicago, with the host city always coming up short in all comparisons. "Come se dice, 'the flan in Chicago is much better than it is in Spain'?"*
*I think that would be "El flan in Chicago es mucho mejor que el flan en Espana" but I'm sober so I could be way off.
posted by Sue Ellen Mischke at 1:36 PM
10 Comments:
If you go to Sevilla I'll be more than happy to go. I loved Sevilla, in fact all of Andalucia was amazing. And I speak spanish fluently (it was my minor).
Italy was pretty easy and most people in major cities speak english, so no worries.
Hi, Heather B. I've heard many people in cities abroad speak English so that eases my fears a little. I would hate to be that ignorant American though that doesn't speak a word of the native language. Someday I hope to make it to Spain. I'll let you know if I ever get enough dough together to do it up the way I'd like.
As much as I love traveling, I can relate to the panic attacks too. I was once stranded by myself in Seville and was terrified. I don't speak Spanish and was completely broke (my American atm card wasn't working and I stupidly had no cash on me). I ended up begging on the street (read; crying) and someone gave me enough money for a bus. And of course I've stayed at all kinds of really sketchy hostels where I couldn't sleep because I was afraid that one of the half dozen people I was sharing a room with was going to either rob me or rape me. (I tend to be a bit paranoid.) Traveling can definitely be scary. I guess I just tend to romanticize it and gloss over the bad parts.
p.s. That totally made my day being linked as one of your favorite bloggers!
I cannot believe that you ever traveled again after that incident in Seville. You're a braver woman than me, Lizzie.
Glad you are flattered to be one of my faves. I hope you'll be able to blog from Egypt.
That shirt, though, in your picture? Awful. The mere fact that a shirt like this even exists pretty much proves that you have no idea what it means to feel extreme pain and suffering over a baseball team.
You're still one of my faves though!
I have no idea what it means to feel extreme pain and suffering over a baseball team? We were up 3-0 about to beat the most despicable team in baseball in the 2004 ALCS and pulled off the biggest choke of all time. A goat and Scott Bartman don't even come close to comparing. For christ's sakes, we haven't won it all since 2000! A little sympathy please.
That is so funny! I used to think the exact same way, but after my first trip abroad (Cancun and Monteal don't count), I have totally changed my mind. PLUS, I gained all sorts of confidence in travelling. You should do it. I'll go too. Seville was great. Morocco was great too, they spoke English there as well. Spain didn't speak anything but spanish to us, and why should they, really? But at least you know the language.
Hostels aren't that bad, I don't mind camping, and cheaper hotels, but the thought of a hostel freaked me out. It's not as bad as it sounds, and it's actually much better than half the places I've stayed in the States.
Oh, and I was totally the ignorant American, but I was so naive about everything. I turned into Jessica Simpson. Everything was so new for me, and exciting.
You should totally do it. Save up, it's worth the trip. I'm 28, and I just left the country for the first time, and now I'm addicted. It was so great to be out of my element for awhile. You'd love it.
Compare Hayes in Middlesex, England to Chicago n you'd be voted in as Mayor, Beloved Leader, Divine Being 'n The Guvnor.
(Little Caz says you can sleep on our sofa anytime - we haven't got a spare bed - as long as you don't mind sharin' it with a few cats. Uh oh. Little Caz hasn't twigged has she?)
Ok, I'm seriously NOT discussing the issue of pain and suffering with you ever again, Ms. Lizzie. Bartman isn't even the half of it. TRY NEARLY 100 YEARS W/O A WORLD SERIES. Biggest choke of all time? Have you heard of the '69 Cubs? Or should I say the '69 Mets? No, I wasn't born yet, but my mom started telling me those stories when I was, oh I don't know, in her womb. I could devote an entire blog to the heartache of being a Cubs fan.
Well, Mappy, if I go abroad it will be me, you and Heather B. Any others interested?
4D, once again, I'm stumped on your word choice- "twigged"? What the hell does that mean? As for your sofa, I don't think I could get within 100 meters of your house because I'd start having attacks from all those cats. We'll have to meet at the Red Lion. The one in Chicago, of course ;)
I have a really great suggestion for you. Go to Prague. It's in the Czech Republic. It's the most beautiful place and the friendliest place I've ever been... AND they love American there.
I did a semester abraod at Oxford in college and took that opportunity to travel through Europe a bit. Then, after college I decided to work on a cruise ship so I could be paid to travvel, rather than dealing with the cost of traveling. I'm a mom now, so something like that is out of the question for me to ever try again, but it was so much fun at the time and I also saved SO MUCH MONEY because everything on the ship (living expenses, food, accomodations) are free. You really have little to no opportunity to spend.
A lot of these cruises go through Europe and you stop only briefly (which sucks) but at least you get a little taste of each place and have the safety net of your base. Then you'll have a good idea of a destination you may like to return to in the future someday.
It's kind of like going to a buffet and sampling a bunch of different things you've never eaten before. When the day is over, you can still lay by the pool and drink pina coladas!
I've heard that about Prague. I forgot to put that on my list. A friend of mine spent a lot of time there and loved it. I've heard it's not as cheap as it used to be, but still way more affordable than most other places.
As for cruises, I'm terrified of large bodies of water (large bodies of anything really- I think I am agoraphobic) so I'll never set foot on a cruise ship. Sounds like fun other than the panic attacks and vomitting I'd be doing!
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