Welcome to the chaos that is my backpack.

Well, here we are.

At the behest of a close friend I've started this blog in an effort to keep all and sundry aware of my doings over the next six months. I've had precious little time between tall ship sailing, packing, and organizing to see all the people I'd like to see in Ojai and the surrounding countryside prior to leaving, but perhaps this will make partial amends. For anyone who wishes to receive postcards and other exciting foreign paraphernalia, feel free to leave a mailing address. It will be included in the next outpouring. I'm currently up to my eyeballs in Things To Do Before I Leave, a daunting noun to say the least.

To bring those unaware of my plans up to speed: I have recently returned from two weeks aboard the beautiful tall ship Lady Washington, love of my life that she is, sailing through the San Juan Islands with a band of beautiful compatriots -- sailors and guests alike -- and am now back home preparing for the following madness. I will be flying out of LAX tomorrow morning and landing in Edinburgh, Scotland on Tuesday the 14th -- smack dab in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe Festival. I'll be there for the remainder of the month enjoying theatre, dance, prose, poetry, art, film, and general debauchery, then moving into northern Scotland, down to Ireland, over to London (briefly), then scooting out to Berlin. From there my plans get hazy, but they involve Greece, Italy, France, and Luxembourg (!) in quick order. There may also be a detour to Israel in October, but that remains to be seen at this point. By December I'll be fairly stationary in England and will remain there until January, when I head to the University of Salamanca in Spain for a 10 week course in Spanish Language. I suppose, after that's all done, I'll come home.

Possibly.

Internet may be scarce at times and fees may be exorbitant, but I will try my hardest to update this as frequently as possible with the latest on my adventures. They promise to be quite something. Photos will also make their way here once my camera has arrived in a few weeks.

I am also accepting quests, as they make the traveling much more exciting. These can range from getting a photo of a monument or building you've always wished to see, to delivering cookies to an estranged loved one or long-lost relative. No task is too absurd. It gives me something (fairly) constructive to do with my time.

So that, I suppose, is that. Any contact from home will appreciated and enjoyed, either through comments here, emails, boxes of candy, letters, small animals, etc etc etc. The most reliable way for things to reach me by mail will be to send them to my house, where my parents will be the most well-informed about where I can collect mail from next. Just address the envelope to me at 727 s. La Luna ave. Ojai, CA 93023 and all should be well.

And now the cavernous mouth of my backpack opens wide like the very jaws of Beelzebub, enticing me to pour my belongings into its maw and begin the process of taking everything I own into the world on my shoulders. See also: Packing.

Until next time,
Lucy