I am the one
Who always goes
Away with my home
Which can only stay inside in my blood –
my home which does not fit with any geography. "
The One Who Goes Away, Sujhata Bhatt
With just four weeks to go I am feeling the pressure of actually getting my things together. The thought of seven months overseas felt so surreal that I haden't really kicked my bum into gear and mustered up the initiation to book and plan the finer details of my trip. But now I can actually see the date looming and it is becoming less a dream and more of a reality.
I used to think travelling was a simple as rocking up to the airport, purchasing a ticket and then going along on your merry way. But now I've really learnt how difficult it can be especially when consulates give you sweet fuck-all when you request their help in regards to visas. I wish to have the spontanity that you see in movies... one minute sunbathing on some sun-drenched Frence beach and the next minute deciding to pop over to Italy for ice-cream... or something to that effect. But nowadays there is only so much flexibility you can have because I think it's crucial to actually plan and book everything well in advance. That way there is piece of mind that you
will get what you want and it's also generally cheaper to book things weeks before.I have Mongolia booked and sorted out. I have paid my deposits for accomodation and I will be volunteering with two seperate places. The first being "Projects Abroad". I have chosen to volunteer with disadvantaged children for a month and they found me my placement at an orphanage as well as a host family. For the second month I will be helping to teach English in a school. My second placement is with "Stepperiders" who are a family-run business that caters to tourists, taking them on trail rides through the endless Mongolian steppes. However, I wish to be more than just a tourist so I applied to work with them and - much to my delight - they accepted me. I will be speaking English to the tourists (and perhaps I will find a chance to exercise my French and German with any European tourists) and I will be taking care of the horses. I can't think of anything better than the combination of languages, horses and Mongolian countryside. I will be with Stepperiders for just over three weeks.
But we save the best for last! Before my three months in Mongolia, I am headed to Germany for six weeks. Mainly for the purpose of getting a grasp on the language, seeing family members and experiencing such a strong culture. I love the sense of culture that Germany has because I feel that Australia lacks that. Culture is imperative to the Germans and is embedded into their way of thinking, language and actions.
After Germany it's France for five weeks where I will be staying in Montpellier for the purposes of learning French. It is an insitution called "ILA" and combines learning French with meeting people and experincing the French way of life. I hope to head to Paris for a week because it would be silly to see south France and then not head up to one of the most popular cities in the world!
My plans thereafter are a bit fuzzy at the moment. I've had the craziest thoughts from seeing Albania (to which I met many protests. Evidently, my family do not want me dead) but they acquiesced to the thought of me seeing Turkey when I proposed that. So Istanbul for a week? Hell yes. And then perhaps up to Ireland and the UK for a few weeks. My only deadline is that I must be back in Germany for June 30th so that I can catch my flight out to Mongolia.
As for now, I am still getting my things packed together and trying to get everything together. It's an overwhelming feeling and often it's difficult to get excited about all countries at once, so I go through phases each day. Monday might be spent engrossed in thoughts about Germany whereas Tuesday could be dedicated to Mongolia...
... I hope to find some sense of home out there. I hope to meet amazing people on the road, as I sure I will. I hope to see a bit of the world and open my eyes up a bit more. It will be nice to get out, especially as Sydney never really felt like home. So perhaps I'll find it somewhere on the road... there is comfort in the ideal of not remaining on one place for long.