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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

I seem to have itchy feet again. Travelling feet. Drop out of school, buy a ticket to Iceland, and see what happens feet. So that's what I'm going to do--I hope--come September. It's exciting and terrifying, and at the same time a huge list of things to do, and nothing at all (buy a ticket and go, what could be easier/harder?)

The weird thing about me is that I've always hated change with a passion (as any good Capricorn should) yet I'm never satisfied with staying put. In 23 years I've gone to 2 or 3 preschools, french immersion, 2 different montessori schools, private elementary and high school, home schooled (twice), unschooled (briefly), checked out an alternative high school, graduated from public high school, and then promptly went to three universities in 4 years of school. I've lived in eight cities in three countries, some of them more than once, and tomorrow I move into my 23rd place of residence in as many years. Not exactly the model of stability!

Currently, I'm living in Vancouver, spending weekends in Victoria, and working in Japan. Supposedly, I'm finishing my degree at SFU, but it's really not doing it for me at the moment. I'm spending a relatively large amount of money to go to classes that aren't interesting me, and with no real motivation to finish. I don't feel like I'm getting smarter by going to school, and with a job that I love now, no plans to have kids or settle down any time soon, and a laundry list of places I'd love to see, it seems a bit ridiculous to keep on keeping on, just because I'm "supposed to."

So with a great Herculean effort I'm forgetting everything I ever learned at GNS about being a successful human being, applying for a British passport, and in May, if things go according to plan, buying a one-way ticket to Iceland.

The plan, so-far, is to go after Saanich Fair (priorities, priorities!) and fly one-way from Seattle to Iceland to join a two-week volunteer trip, spending a week in Reykjavik and a week around the rest of the country, photographing and plotting the GPS coordinates of ocean debris too large to be removed by humans alone. On September 29th, I'll be getting on a ferry to Denmark (via the Faeroes) and then...I have no idea! Probably figure out a way to Holland to hang out with Hoka for a bit, and then hopefully volunteering at the World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam at the end of October. After that, I really have no idea.

Christmas comes up pretty soon after that, which is a bit of a wrench in it as I CAN NOT/WILL NOT miss Xmas with my mum and gramps. Maybe I can convince them to come to Europe for Christmas there!

I'm planning to keep my job, as I have the BEST BOSS EVER, who supports me completely in running away from school and jumping in with two feet to an adventure of random detail. I could potentially live off that, but probably not too easily, if I also want to be travelling and whatnot, so I'm hoping to do some www.workaway.info placements, pick up shifts in youth hostels, or even pull pints. Work off half my board on average, or something like that. Who knows? Half my family doesn't, haha.

Anyway, back to work now, but good to be blogging about an adventure again.
xx
D