What's In My Pack? (after three months)

Since my pack has been through a lot this summer, I felt it deserved some recognition.
The original list is in regular type - strikethrough has been ditched along the way - bold is a new addition.

Clothes
6 x pants
4 x ankle socks
3 x regular socks x1 (holes/missing)
2 x bras
4 x vests
1 x t-shirt
1 x trousers
2 x shorts (1 pair ripped and mended)
1 x dress
1 x blouse
1 x skirt x 2
1 x belt
Waterproof jacket
Jumper
Scarf
Flip flops
Sandals
Trainers
Hiking boots (time came to admit they just didn't fit)

Teaching supplies
Folder
Scotland flag
Toy Collie (somehow couldn't bring myself to part with it...)
Stickers
Colouring pencils
Crayons
Scottish tablet
St Andrews pencils
Scottish playing cards
Fudge
Scottish recipe tea towels (gifts for host families)
Post-its

Misc
Snorkel
Laundry liquid
Micro towel
Olive oil (gift for family)
Ouzo (gift for family)
Romania magnets x 5
Romania playing cards
Romania calendar
Romania bookmarks
Traditional Romanian Easter eggs x 6
Handmade halter (all of the above were gifts to me)
Castile soap
Beer mug shot glass (gift for family)
Colossal wooden spoon (gift for family)
Straw hat
Toiletries (various)
Wooden religious icon
30 year old handmade Romanian tablecloth (both gifts to me)
First aid kit (minus a few plasters)
2 x sun tan lotion x 1
Insect bite cream
Camera (slightly broken)
Chargers for phone/tablet
Tablet
Kindle (with 100+ books... man it was handy)

Carrying the wooden spoon for a month around Europe has to have been the biggest packing challenge as it stretched from the bottom of my pack to just stick out the top. I had a very minimal wardrobe but nothing was forgotten in the bottom of my bag and I had just enough to get through.

A Change of Plans

(Anyone who noticed that this blog was retired for about a month, forget everything you saw.)

I've now been abroad for just under three months - well, I left on the 30th of May and it's now the 20th of August. The plan to walk the West Highland Way this summer went out the window when I had to spend 50 euros on a taxi across Rome at the last minute (fuck you very much, WizzAir) and overspent in Greece and basically realised I couldn't really afford to fly home, and it made more sense to wait it out on the continent until my family showed up to drive me safely back to England.

Yeah, that's a pretty stupid plan, I know. I am now out of money. However, the next couple of weeks will be spent with various family members - the last couple of weeks, actually - and then I will have made it. Sort of. Back into my student debt and whatnot.

So far, I've spent a month working on my beloved farm in Greece, a month teaching children and living with families in Romania, and three weeks city-hopping with interrail which brings us to now - chilling out for a week in an airbnb flat beside Lake Como until we meet with parents. After bouncing from Suceava to Cluj-Napoca to Vienna to Prague to Berlin to Amsterdam to Brussels to Bordeaux to Lyon and finally to a friend's near Grenoble, this is a very welcome break. It's nice to be able to cook for ourselves at last, too - who knew you could get tired of eating in restaurants...

It has been a very eventful summer - I learned to drive a horse-drawn cart and a motorbike, stood in the way of a herd of galloping ponies, ate more meat than I have for ten years, got sick, swam in Lake Geneva while waiting for a train... there are more stories, and they'll get their time eventually.

When I get the time I'll be writing more about my Romanian experience (really the most apt word), my second summer in Greece and the adventures that followed. Until then.

The Great Adventure 2013

What you see here is the map which has been growing beside my bed for the past year. There are maps of the places I've been, postcards I've received and collected, a photograph, a play programme and a Lord of the Rings themed map of St Andrews. There are also maps of places I've yet to visit... or one, at least. 

For the past year I've been planning the most epic summer of my life so far. For three months I'm going to be travelling Europe, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. Here's the breakdown:

• 30th May - 27th June: Greece. I'm going back to the stables to work with Amanda, Stathis and the Skyrians for another month, this time with my friend Karen :)
• 27th June - 27th July: Romania. I'll be teaching English to kids in Suceava, and living with families there.
• 27th July - 17th August: Interrail. Lachy and I are heading to Scandinavia via Berlin. That's the current plan, anyway!
• After the 17th August... at some point: The West Highland Way. Walking it with Lachy.
• 3rd September: a week in France with my family.

Then back in time for freshers' week! Well... hopefully.

I've never travelled for so long before - and certainly never so long on my own in between places. It's going to be a test as well as an epic adventure. Maybe I can finally get over my fear of spiders? 

Packing has so far already been a challenge. Trying to hold myself back from packing clothes for every eventuality is rather difficult, and I have three notebooks packed already - despite paring them down to the essentials. I also have to take my dissertation reading with me - that'll be fun! My hand luggage is so far composed of books and important documents, while my main bag is full of clothes and teaching materials.

I'll do my best to post updates of my adventures when I get the chance, but since I haven't got room to carry my heavy computer the majority will have to wait until September.

Hasta luego, friends! Wish me luck!