Well, I’m about to embark on another grand adventure as an International Man of Mystery. I’ve been fortunate enough to be on vacation for the last couple of weeks- first a week in the MDDCVA area visiting Marine Corps family, in particular the Lockwoods in Maryland and the Lloyd’s in Virginia- and then second a week in Boston, Massachusetts visiting my dad, step-family, and high-school friends… all of which has been awesome. It’s been great to spend so much time with people that I care so much about but who live so far away from me, plus it’s been a lot of fun to see snow, be in that East Coast/New England environment, and do lots of fun things.
This isn’t quite a personal diary though- this is the continuation of my travel adventure blog, and while I’ve had fun on vacation so far, the actual adventure is about to begin! In a few hours I’ll leave for Scotland, where I expect to stay at least a couple days but probably more. From there I’ll eventually head south into England, where I presume I’ll primarily stay in London for a time. Finally, I’ll find a way across the English Channel into France, and I expect that I’ll stay in Paris for the remainder of my trip, finally returning to Southern California on the 20th of January. As you may have already inferred, there’s not a lot preplanned in my trip- including exactly when I’ll transition from place to place- and that’s intentional. I’ve discovered that I really like having the flexibility when I travel to stay longer if I want to, or to pack up and see something new if it’s time to; so that’s what I’m going to do!
I’ll be staying in hostels wherever I go (unless I happen to find myself invited into anyone’s home) as I’ve found that not only is it a dramatically less expensive way to travel, but also a good way to meet other travelers who have great insights about what to do and where to go next. I’m also making this trip at this time because this is when I have the free time to travel, and these are the cheap flights I was able to find- though I’m also REALLY excited to see these places for my first time!
I have a number of goals and hopes for my voyages in Europe this winter, but the most important of them is to be reinvigorated in my commitment to lead an intentional, purposeful life of learning and growth at home. I’m travelling alone (though I’ll visit some friends there and undoubtedly make many new ones!) which will provide me plenty of time for deep contemplation and serious introspection. I have some vague ideas for “new year’s resolutions” right now, but I hope to solidify them in the course of my travels with the intent to be committed to them by the time I arrive in San Diego or earlier. I’m also obviously committing to recording my adventures in a manner similar to how I did last year on my trip to Northern and Eastern Europe- probably amounting to about once a day, but varying depending on when I find the time to write properly.
More specifically though, I’m looking forward to a combination of a lot of learning and hopefully a lot of fun! I like museums in general, and have a passion for history in particular, so I expect to do a lot of visiting historical museums or sites. I like seeing impressive vistas, whether urban or pastoral, so I’ll be maintaining a sharp lookout for those. I like trying new food and particularly new drinks, so I expect there'll be plenty of that. I also really like to dance, so I’m gonna be sure to hit up the famous euroclub scene! I hope I’ll get to take in plenty of artwork- both historical and contemporary- of a wide variety of mediums. …And perhaps most importantly, I hope to meet lots of local people and to learn about what they and their lives are like.
I’m also looking forward to making stronger personal connections to the cultures of these three nations (Scotland, England, and France). Like most Americans, I’m an ethnic mutt- in my case predominantly Irish, Scottish, English, and German- though I also have a grandfather (who is technically my step-grandfather) who is 2nd generation Japanese-American so I also consider Japanese to be part of my personal cultural melting pot. In any case, day-to-day I usually consider my cultural heritage (along ethnic lines) to be most closely associated with the Irish and Scottish, and in particular the Scottish- undoubtedly because both my first and last name are Scottish. Given that, I’m looking forward to experiencing first hand what modern Scottish culture is like, and learning more about the history of Scotland and ideally my ancient clan, the Campbell’s.
I’m also a huge fan of the English language- I’m something of a linguaphile in general, and between being the birthplace of this foundational element of my culture and England’s incredible importance to the history of nearly everywhere on planet Earth during the last 500 years, I can’t wait to see and learn about it at the source. Things that are high on my list of “hope-to’s” include: visiting The Royal Society, The Globe Theater, and anything I can find relating to 18th Century military/maritime issues.
Finally, spending a good amount of time in France is a big deal to me. I first started studying the French language when I was 12 years old, and I continued on with it through the rest of my primary education, a job I had, and then my first foray into college- studying it there seriously for three and a half years, and finally achieving some degree of fluency at that point. I’ve since traded almost all of my speaking fluency in French for speaking fluency in Arabic, but I’ve at least managed to retain most of my reading and listening comprehension: I can read most written French without much difficulty, and I can watch French news or movies without subtitles and still follow along without missing much at all. I’m hoping that being in an immersive environment will bring some of my speaking ability back, and that my ability to comprehend will at least aid communication and friend making! The bottom line though is that after so many years of study and interest, I’ve never yet had the opportunity to actually go to France and be an active participant in French culture that way… so this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time, and I’m finally going to live out that dream in about a week’s time!
12018-01-05 - 1801h (UTC -5) - Providence Rhode Island T.F. Greene Airport