A New Chapter

I decided that it was appropriate to start a new blog. There have been a great deal of changes in my life lately, at least it feels that way, and I feel this new site will represent this best. At least it's all I can come up with at 2:40 AM with nothing else to do except wait to get on a plane in 9 hours.

Tomorrow (er, today, whatever) my sister Cassandra and I are getting on a plane. We will be stopping in Anchorage for a bit which will give us a perfect opportunity to visit our sister Carrie and her family. After that we fly to Washington, D.C. Originally we were going to visit our Great Uncle Raymond who lives just outside in Vienna, Virginia, but due to his health he is unable to have visitors. Cassandra and I have both been to D.C. enough times, but never at the same time so I'm sure we'll make the most of it. In fact, I have never visited the National Gallery, so that will be a stop for sure, and she has not seen the World War II Memorial so we'll go there as well. I would much rather see Ray than any of that, but respecting his wishes is important at this point.

Once we're done spending our days in D.C. we're going to fly to London. The day we land we are taking a bus to Edinburgh. We're going to get there right in time for a big festival that I was able to see back in 2004 when Lisa Smith and I backpacked our way through the country. I'm really excited to see it again with my sister, and we'll be sure to visit the Jekyll & Hyde Pub that is so swank that its restroom doors are disguised as cases of books. I'm not going to lie, I've been there a couple of times, but never have I taken it upon myself to experience the 7 Deadly Sins there, which are shots of alcohol that are certain to make it difficult to find my way back to my hostel. I better not go for all seven... After being in Edinburgh, we're going to make our way to other spots on Scotland and England before making my final destination. My goal is to discuss these stops on here as we go.

At the end of our trip Cassandra is going to be dropping me off in Budapest, Hungary, where I will begin a two-year Master's program in Philosophy. It's going to be a crazy experience for sure, but I'm going to do everything I can to make the most of it and be a good student while there. Of course there will be plenty of three and four day weekends due to Hungary being a very proud nation and having several holidays. I might be able to take advantage of the time and visit my former dance instructor in Athens or give Croatia a try. I'm not sure at this point, and I like it that way.

Right now I am feeling a little nervous, mostly excited, but also very tired so I better get myself to bed. Once again, my goal is to keep track of my experiences and what not on here just as I did on livejournal when I was Greece, so stay tuned!