I just started Neither Here Nor There by the magnificent author/thinker/linguist/man--Bill Bryson (thanks!!! :O)). And just a few pages in I wanted to get in my car, drive to the airport and fly to europe. If I couldn't get a ticket I planned to hijack a plane. I realized this was neither practical nor possible. Thus began the rapid thought process of how to get to Europe.

Unlike most everyone I know I have never been to Europe. I don't even have a fucking passport. When foreigners talk about those selfish, single-minded, anti-progressive, no-passport-holdin', mcdonalds lovin', gas-guzzlin', beer-chuggin', non-readin', good-for-nothing Americans I feel they're talking about me (only because of the passport thing). So, yes, I am sheltered as far as tanglible travel is concerned. I've been to Alaska, Canada (for about a day), and Mexico. That's pretty much excepting several jaunts through the continental 48. I REALLY want to correct this. I would love to go anywhere, and for SO many reasons Europe is where I'd like to go first.

How/When do I correct this? The most obvious solution would be study abroad. Unfortunately, being a transfer student severely limits one's options. Obviously I can't do the standard junior year abroad scenario, because I would be spending my first real semester as a Universit student in another country. Perhaps I could do a semester quarter abroad, but I would be losing 25% of my real college experience off campus. That's fine and everything, but I REALLY WANT to feel like I went to college at A SPECIFIC place, not just a series of stops on the way to a degree. A summer session abroad wouldn't mitigate my college experience. Summer sessions require money I don't necessarily need to spend, and they don't provide the same feel of a regular session. Summer abroad programs are definitely a possibility for the 2006 summer, but, when I really think about it, even a year abroad wouldn't give me enough of Europe.

The only real solution I see is a long term European experience, Neither here nor there-style. Perhaps I could do this in addition to a summer trip to Europe in '06, either academic or just travelling. In fact a summer '06 trip would be a great way to familiarize myself with Europe. In other words it'll give me a sip of Europe's majesty so I know what to expect for the later gulp. But the long term European adventure, the gulp, is what I really need. I want to go everywhere, see most things, meet every type, drink everything, try many things and climb everything I can see. There are so many places and so many beautiful experiences to be had that I NEED to be in Europe for at least half a year. A year or two is probably a better estimation of the time necessary to achieve my ultimate European experience. So that's the 'how I go to/experience Europe'; now I need to figure out when to this.

By far the most obvious time to do this would be right after graduation. This is my ideal time to go, but I think there will be some logistical problems with this time. I'll probably have ZERO money after 2 years of paying my way. Well, that's a lie. I'll probably be in BIG TIME debt after graduation. But as I type this I realize who the fuck cares about money. Fuck logistics. The plan is to go to Europe within a month or two of graduation. This will give me plenty of time to figure out what I want to do with my life. What a great detour from depressing, angst-ridden, futile posts.