Preparing for my RTW travel: the backpacking packing (a list)

I think I have the ugliest backpack known to man.

It’s two shades of dog-poo brown. But, I think it’s because of it’s lack of exterior good looks, it was such a steal. The 65CL REI pack was mine of the takin’ at a cool $180. That’s $100 less than it’s prettier counterparts, although color aside, they are exactly the same.

One thing’s for sure — the inside of that bag sho’ is good lookin’.

‘Twas the night before London

At the job I met T. He was the owner’s nephew and was working at the restaurant, too. I fell in love with him.

The awful, first love kind of way where you never think you will ever in a million years feel the way you feel about the man you are with.

Only, our relationship wasn’t a good one. T was an alcoholic, 10 years my senior, who despised life. While his self-loathing and misery didn’t rub off on me, it was entirely taken out on me. Our relationship was one of cyclical emotional abuse. It was pints of I-love-you’s with double shots of I-hate-you’s and lots and lots (and lots) of tears. And crazy wicked emotional hangovers.

A BRIEF intermission: My 30 Life Crisis … solved?

Since my return from Croatia, I have teetered between sanity and tears (bless you, Mom and Dad and my inner-circle of amazing friends), a career change and a life change. After months of research, weighing my options and learning from my travel peers what works and what doesn’t, I have decided to take an oh-so-scary step to infuse my passion with my daily living and quit my job, put my life in storage, foster my cats, and GET LIVING.