The Agony and the Ecstasy of NaNoWriMo

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I haven't written a word for NaNoWriMo for two days. Wednesday morning I wrote 1200+ words in a 90mwc and I knew what I would write next. I was less than 100 words from that 10k Badge and I wanted it. I could have made it that night. 

However, I needed to apply for a position. I decided I hated my resume and I needed to start from almost scratch. I hate talking about myself. I hate tooting my own horn, putting myself out there. Whatever saying applies to me saying good things about myself, I hate doing.

My therapist suggested I try writing my new resume in third person. My therapist is awesome. It worked. I made statements - true statements - about my experience that I never would have said if I'd been using the pronoun "I". 

I write almost exclusively in 1st POV. There's no story that I've written in 3rd POV that isn't immediately cured of all its ails by my changing it to 1st. Why? What's underneath? How does this affect my writing?

Find My Darlings

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As I mentioned in my last post, I'm currently obsessed with Rachael Herron's podcast How Do You Right?

  • "Breaking the seal" in Ep. 060: Rachael Herron with 3 Writing Tips You’ve Never Heard Before. There's a "holding your pee all day" analogy that makes the argument for writing first thing in the morning. It's genius. 
  • I've listened to Ep. 061: Olivia Dunn on What it Means to Do Two More Drafts multiple times now
    • Breaking the seal is again discussed. You can do a lot with a good peeing analogy
    • Also Dunn shared how she started a blog when she was "in her 20s at a boring office job." She wrote only a paragraph a day, which seems really insignificant, but with time she had a significant amount of writing. Even if the writing wasn't significant. (I've used some form of the word "significant" a lot in this bullet point. Its use is not significant.)

I go through periods of blogging but my perfectionism gets in the way and the whole process takes away too much time from my fiction writing. Or knitting. Or watching TV. Or Napping. 

So Thank you Olivia Dunn. This - one paragraph a day - I can do. I am not a wordy person. I never have to cut my fiction writing - kill my darlings. I always have to add words, scenes, characters. I have to... find my darlings.

 

On Never Giving Up

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I've been inspired by so many random things in the past week. 

  • Anyone and everyone who's doing NaNoWriMo
  • The authors I heard speaking at the Texas Book Festival, all of them women
  • Rachael Herron's podcast/youtube, How Do You Write? which I've been listening to obsessively for the past week. I love the range of author's she interviews. 
  • A post It never gets easy. by Ilona Andrews (Gordon). Prompted by a question I asked at the last Austin RWA meeting.
    • "One question stood out, and it’s a question that comes up a lot.  Basically, Rules.  What are they, are there ones you never break, are there ones that you always break."
    • That was my question! And the answer was: It never gets easy.

All of them had one thing in common: Just keep going, keep doing it, keep moving forward, don't give up. Never give up. 

 

Interview with Janice MacLeod, author of Paris Letters and A Paris Year

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I'm so excited to have an interview with Janice MacLeod for Monday Inspiration. Janice is the Author of Paris Letters and the upcoming A Paris Year. We talked about escape plans, staying nimble, and Paris in Autumn. 

I would get up, react, and repeat. - Paris Letters

Julia: I read Paris Letters between accepting an offer on my house and the closing date 20 days later. I knew the second I finished your book that I wouldn’t be buying another house or taking classes with the profits. I knew I’d be taking a year off from work. From everything. How often do you hear stories like this?

Janice's new book, A Paris Year, will be released in in June.

Janice's new book, A Paris Year, will be released in in June.

Janice: Before Paris Letters came out, many friends talked about wanting to take a year off from work, but they never seemed to make plans on how to afford that year off. It seemed to be a lofty unattainable goal, something to dream about, not to actually do. And I see why. Taking off work for a year takes planning.

After the book came out, many of these same people came forth and told me how they were now saving up to take that year off. It’s as if it took reading the book for them to realize they needed to save up. The book also gives a slew of ways to make this happen faster, especially the list of 100 ways to save or make money listed at the end of the book.

Now complete strangers send me messages about how they have saved up enough to take a year off work, or afford the dream vacation, or just save up enough to buy a buffer of time to figure out what they want the next step to be. It’s a great honor to be the conduit and inspiration for all these bold moves, and to know that these bold moves are based on the wisdom to save up the cash to make it happen.

There were free snacks in the kitchen and as many Post-it Notes as I wanted. I should have been spending my time being grateful. - Paris Letters

Julia: After a year on sabbatical (it wasn’t really a sabbatical. I just quit my job), I am back in the cube. My approach to this job is like no other: I don’t try to make friends, no after work activities with colleagues, no telling them my life story and dreams. I go to work and I leave it there, not thinking about it at night or on the weekend. After 10 months I’ve avoided almost all the drama… And I still hate it. How do you know when “It’s not you (cubelife), it’s me (...me)” and time to get out for real, make good your escape?

Janice: This is an easy answer but not a popular one: You know it’s time to make an escape when you start making real, solid plans, to spring from cubelife. This isn’t just about saving up money. I remember stealing time in my office to study maps of Europe because I knew I wanted to travel there after I quit my job. I also wrote blog posts from the office (http://janicemacleod.com/ ). Those blog posts helped me build an audience. I didn’t realize at the time that this would be handy when selling a book. I wasn’t planning on writing a book. I was only planning on escaping cubelife, traveling and figuring out the next steps. Stealing time (billable time) also gave me hope during those dreary days when I was staying at my job to earn my way out of it. Some people have office affairs to add a little spark to their dreary day jobs. I blogged and dreamed of places I would visit around the world. It got me through the days.

I understand not wanting to fully commit to a life inside the office by not bothering to make friends. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, avoiding after work activities with colleagues probably helps retain energy (and spare change) that you can use doing what you love. I remember when I would save that $25 of after-work drinks by not going out with colleagues. I would imagine where I would spend that cash, hopefully at a rooftop bar in Rome. And when I finally arrived at that rooftop bar, I was so happy to spend that $25 on something that gave me great joy and a great sense of accomplishment.  

“Write to learn what you know.” - from a greeting card quoted in Paris Letters

Julia: I, like you, started journaling after reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. I was living in Brooklyn at the time and hated it. Journaling helped me realize that I am not a big city person. So I moved to Austin, TX (which, after 15 years has become kind of a big city). Do you still journal? Does journaling still help you figure out what you want to do next?

Janice: Yes I still journal. It’s not as frequent these days as I had a baby in January. When I haven’t journaled for a few days, I feel a pent up energy. I also have a cluttered mind. Journaling helps me get all the ideas and plans out of my system. It also helps me figure out why I am or am not doing something, so it becomes a therapist as well.

Whenever someone contacts me and asks me advice, I always want to tell them to start writing a daily journal, or to recommence with journaling. The answers are revealed. Sometimes we need to write out pages and pages of boring nonsense to get to the answers, but I believe we get to those answers faster in a journal than without. That said, some people are just not wired for journaling. They are never going to pick up a pen and write in a journal. For these people I suggest walking. Walk without music or an audio book blaring in your ear. Silence and walking can also help you get to the answers.

October in Paris! from A Paris Year

October in Paris! from A Paris Year

If you you want to hold water in the palm of your hand, you can’t grasp at it. - Paris Letters

Julia: I left anchors in Austin and Florida (my home state): a car, my favorite books, and 6 months away from 10 years of state service and full investment. I think those anchors made me feel safe. No matter what happened, I could (did) go back. You got down to one suitcase! Could you give it all up and take off for another adventure? Or are anchors different after you’ve made good your escape from cube life? Do you have an anchor in happiness now?

Janice: I could still pick up and go with one suitcase. In fact, I find this easier than the idea of staying rooted in one place. Not having so many things to manage is freeing. The lovely Christophe, whom I met in Paris, is a lot like me. Together we thrill at keeping it lean, of not accumulating too much, of having the option to take off to the next destination. We also both aren’t very sentimental about physical objects, though I must admit, seeing my new book in print makes me incredibly sentimental, so I’ll always have room in my suitcase for a copy of the books I’ve written. All this nomadic bliss may change by the time our baby is ready for school, but perhaps by then we will find that place where we want to anchor. Until then, we are staying nimble.

If Paris Letters is about BECOMING an artist in Paris, A Paris Year is about BEING an artist in Paris. - janicemacleod.com

Julia: If you do go on a new adventure you’ll have company. You have a new baby, Amélie. Congratulations to you and Christophe! 

And you have another new baby coming soon: your new book, A Paris Year. A Paris Year is GORGEOUS (yes, I’m using all the formatting!). Thank you for letting me see the proof. I loved everything about it. Your paintings, photographs, and your eye for color took my breath away! I’ve only visited Paris in the summer, but now I must see it in October!

I was struck by how different A Paris Year is from Paris Letters. A Paris Year really showcases your art. It’s art as biography… or, biography as art? How did you come up with the idea? What motivated you to make the switch?

Janice's Paris in Autumn from A Paris Year

Janice's Paris in Autumn from A Paris Year

Janice: You MUST visit Paris in autumn. (yes, I’m using all the formatting!) A Paris Year is truly a thrill to have created. I received the advance copies a few weeks ago and I still marvel that this book is a real, bound book. The idea, like all my ideas, came from playing in my journal. When I first began journaling, it was all words and lists, but in Paris, and with all my sitting in cafés, the journals evolved. I began adding sketches, paints, photos, thoughts, things I learned about the city, and addresses of places I visited or wanted to visit.

Paris is generous to the curious artist. There is always something to sketch or learn about in this beautiful city. Some of these sketches and thoughts evolved to become Paris Letters… these are the painted letters I mail out to subscribers each month from my Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/janicemacleodstudio). This book is a collection of the best of the best journal entries. I came up with the format from a myriad of random sources. One source was one of my journals that was actually a daybook that started in January and ended in December. It had a nice flow. I like the idea of starting the story of a year in Paris in January and observing the changes of season throughout the year.

Julia: The last question: What’s your idea of bliss?

Janice: So many things. Bliss is a warm coffee on a cool morning, a hug when I need it most, of a perfect patio seat at dusk, taking my shoes off after a long walk, coming across a beautiful stationery store full of pretty paper, an urban hike in a medieval European village, a tomato that tastes like it should, clean sheets, an entire rainy afternoon to binge watch Outlander, naps, popcorn, when a watercolor painting turns out better than I expected… and especially when I’m walking along trying to solve a sentence or paragraph for a book I’m writing and the solution reveals itself as if by magic. That, my friend, is bliss.

A huge thank you to Janice MacLeod!! A Paris Year, is available for pre-order (A | BN) and Paris Letters is available now (A | BN)!

Re...

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I love the colors of these dead flowers

I love the colors of these dead flowers

Many of the Bliss Tours I've read (often with the words happy or happiness in the titles) start out as new year's resolutions. Their journey, literal or figurative, begins on the first day of the year. I don't make new year's resolutions anymore because...

January 1st is an insane time to start new year’s resolutions.

Seriously, we’re all bloated from the manic high that is the National Orgy of the Holiday Season (NOHS). The American NOHS now lasts a quarter of the year from Halloween-prep mid-October to MLK Day in mid-January. 

NOHS creates expectations and disappointments, pressures and stress. This is the absolute worst time for the quiet reflection and contemplation required for taking an honest look at your life and making decisions about what you may, or may not, want.

When is a good time? Now. Spring. With Easter, Passover, Holi, and every other holy day, the land in the Northern Hemisphere is waking up. Flowers blossom, trees that looked dead a week ago sprout fresh green. This is the time of year to begin again.

Renew, rebirth, resurrection, restart, restore, reboot. That’s what survival is, coming back.

Challenging Is Not Interesting

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My favorite job ever was working at a bookstore. I was surrounded by books and talked about books all day. Someone would come in and say “I’m looking for that book by that guy” and I would lead them to the book they were looking for.

I would still be working at a bookstore if I could make a living wage at it. It was wonderful, interesting, and engaging. Thrilling even. But even way back then my slightly above minimum wage job barely covered my rent.

In Cube Land, where I can make more money, if I’ve had one manager tell me, “We want you to be challenged here,” I’ve had half a dozen. “You’ve got potential. You’re smart. We want you to be challenged here.” Challenged always feels like it needs to be italicized. It’s so special.

The assumption is if I’m challenged (see what I mean about the italics?), I’ll be more engaged and excited about your work.

Fellow cubemates, I now know that this is not true. For years, decades, I thought: “What is wrong with me? This is challenging work. Why am I so bored?” And not a little bored, but, like, Olympic qualifying levels of bored.

There’s nothing wrong with me. Challenging does not equal interesting. Challenging really means more complicated and harder, or as is often the case, just more work.

The opposite of challenging is not boring. The opposite of challenging is easy. The opposite of interesting is boring.

My favorite bookstore job was interesting and easy. Standing up at the register wasn’t my favorite, but it didn’t kill me with boredom the way sitting in the cube all day does no matter what I'm doing. (How being in the cube can suck the joy out of anything except donuts is another post).

I know what you’re saying, maybe even shouting: the job at the bookstore was easy for you because of your love of books, because you were so engaged, because it was interesting.

Yes. True. And that’s my point. A job you’re interested in can be easy or challenging, it almost doesn’t matter.

A job you’re not interested in, not engaged by? There’s no amount of being challenged or "leveling up" or "working to your strengths" that’s going to make that job interesting.

With challenging, boring jobs, the amount of time and life energy required to get the uninteresting work done exhausts me. Also, spending so much of my life force on something that my boss will look at for 5 minutes, then put aside never to be referenced again...

I will never get those hours of my life back.

Easy, boring jobs may not make as much money, but they do allow me some free mind time while in the cube. I need those hours, that energy, to write things like this.

Happy Friday!

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Happy Friday! I say on Fridays, all day on Fridays. I say with relentless enthusiasm.

Happy Friday! I say to everyone. I say it to people I don’t even like. That’s how good Fridays are.

Happy Friday! Fridays are always happy.

Going to do some knitting this weekend 

Going to do some knitting this weekend 

Happy Friday! TGIF! "Everybody’s working for the weekend" and it’s almost here, it’s coming, so close. We only have to sacrifice 8 more hours to Cubelife before we can have time for ourselves, to be ourselves. 

Happy Friday! I say as if Friday were an actual holiday, a holy day, a holy day I don’t hesitate to put all of my faith in.

Happy Friday! the holy day of the God of Potential and the Goddess of Gettin’ Shit Done. What can’t we hope to do when Friday morning dawns? So praise the last day of the work week.

Happy Friday!

Happy New Year - the Julia Calendar

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I start my year on my birthday. The Julia Calendar is far more reasonable than the Julian. It’s silly to try to start some brand new habit on January 1st. We’ve all been in the national orgy of holidays and celebrations and travel and general unrest. My birthday, today, is close enough to the beginning of the year to still feel new, clear, with a bite of winter.

I had random ideas for this past year, but I couldn’t have planned it. In fact, I didn’t. I tried. I kept coming up with The Plan and then changing it. What happened this year wasn’t so much about what I did or where I went, but about taking the time to just be. I can’t explain easily what that did for me, but I can tell you the resolutions it gave me for the new year.

New Year’s Resolutions

  • Keep writing. I finished a novel this year. I started another one. I’ve got a third brewing in my brain. Ideas for a fifth and a sixth….
  • Keep interviewing people. I love talking to them about their lives, their work, their dreams. Yes, please.
  • Keep traveling. I must return to Edinburgh. Period. Other places too. And not “some day.” Soon.
  • Keep being curious. About life, about myself.
  • Keep being passionate about what I love, no matter how random. Color. "That’s not even a thing," you say. It is. It is.
  • Keep giving myself space to be the person I am.

It’s been an enlightening year. A year ago, the Monday after my last birthday, I resigned from my job to take a year-long sabbatical. I’d decided that one day wasn’t enough to celebrate a half century.

This whole year has been a celebration of this birthday. The sabbatical has ended, but The Bliss Tour continues.

Bliss Pics 2015

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Here are some of my favorite photos from 2015. The photos were taken in Marfa, TX, Panama City, FL, and Edinburgh, Scotland.


Wild Beginnings

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I'm beginning again. Since leaving Edinburgh, I've had two homecomings: first to my hometown in Florida for the holidays to see family and friends, and then to Austin.

Yes, I'm back in Austin! After 4 months away, the place is still so familiar - mostly, it took me three attempts to get on MOPAC yesterday. I'm trying to see it with new eyes, testing a theory: can I start a new life in an old place?

One of the first things I did as soon I got into town was participate in Wild Women Wednesdays - Wild Beginnings with two amazing women: Harmony Eichsteadt and Sarah Elizabeth Harney.

Talking with Sarah and Harmony (listen to my earlier interview with Harmony) was fun and enlightening and informative and... just brilliant in so many ways. I thank them both for helping me start this new year and new part of my life with hope and inspiration.

Wild Women Wednesdays - Wild Beginnings


Interview with Mary Veal of Kula Yoga Shala

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This is the third episode of The Bliss Tour. Yay!!!! {muppet arms}

A big thank you to Mary Veal of Kula Yoga Shala. Mary is one of my best friends from high school and we talk about yoga, living an authentic life, and rock and roll.

 Listen

Links to some of the things we chatted about:

  • Kula Yoga Shala - Mary's yoga studio in Jupiter, Florida and home of Rock & Roll Yoga ("It will be loud. There may be offensive language. If this doesn't sound like fun to you, PLEASE DON'T COME!")
  • Karma Krew - the non-profit Mary and her partner started to take yoga beyond the studio walls and into the hearts of the community
  • Why some of us don't have one true calling - a Ted Talk about "multipotentialites" by Emilie Wapnick
  • Bhagavad Gita - a dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna

The music you are listening to was not provided by Led Zepplin, or Godsmack or Pantera (I totally had to look up those last two).

The music you are listening to was provided by Jamendo and this is Ambient-M by Antony Raijekov.

I hope you enjoyed this interview. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Happy Holidays!

Julia In Edinburgh

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Today is my last full day in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have mixed emotions. I am sad, but grateful and happy that I came here and stayed here. I’ve never felt like a tourist here. Although, what else could I call myself, certainly in the beginning? I never wanted to visit the place. I wanted to live here.

From this experience, I've come to realize things. I couldn’t say this before. Maybe I couldn’t even see it, but I know this now: This was a bold and badass experiment.

I came to Edinburgh knowing no one or really nothing about the city (there’s a castle). Just shy of three months, I constructed a life here. I made friends and learned neighborhoods that I’ll miss, and frequented a pub where the owner would fill a pint of my favorite lager with a nod.

This is an experiment that I need to repeat in other places. Where? You know I don’t know yet. But I leave Edinburgh with a strong desire to return, much sooner than “maybe one day."

I have no grand plans for this last day, other than having writing this at my favorite bakery, walking through Old Town and City Center one more time, and having a pint at the local pub. A proper end to having lived here.

Cheers,

Julia in Edinburgh

Interview with Harmony Eichsteadt of Wild Women's Adventure Club

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The second episode of the Bliss Tour is finally here!!

Here's a fun interview with Harmony Eichsteadt of Wild Women's Adventure Club. We talked about work, being kind to ourselves, being nomads, and wild women. Enjoy!

Listen

Here are links to some of the things we chatted about in the interview:

The music was provided by the North Sea. Ok, so apparently Portobello's beach is a small tributary to the North Sea. But I'm just going to call it the North Sea anyway. :)

I hope you enjoyed this interview. I have a couple more coming up soon! Woot!!

Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks!

Goodbye Portobello

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Sunrise from the kitchen

Sunrise from the kitchen

View from the bed

View from the bed

Today is my last day at the beach, Portobello. I've been here for five and a half mostly bright sunny weeks, watching puppies and toddlers gambol by with their adult humans, bikers, joggers, swimmers braving the North Sea (as a reference point: it's colder than Barton Springs by at least 10 degrees), and the tide rise and fall.

I'm sad to leave the beach, but I'm staying in Edinburgh until just before Thanksgiving. I love it here. I'm moving to the Leith area, closer to the City Center, and returning this beach flat to my host, who's been staying with friends while I enjoyed a few more weeks in his home. He's a really nice man.

Things I'll miss: the sound of the waves, the view from the table at the window where I spent much of my time, the fish and chips, the Espy which I finally ventured into when Elisa visited, familiar faces.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my stay and seeing how the location change will affect what I do daily. Probably no walks on the beach, but I'll walk somewhere else, discover something new, be grateful I'm here.

The North Sea

The North Sea

Light from my bedroom

Light from my bedroom

The light

The light

Being Here

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Saturday was gorgeous, like the most beautiful day ever. So many people out walking their dogs and their kids, people sunning themselves. The North Sea sparkled like gems, so beautiful it could make your eyes bleed. I didn't go out. Too much. I watched it all from a safe distance, inside. Why go out and battle for space for a view that I could already see?

Breathe...

Breathe...

The beach is mesmerizing. In the original, original Plan - the kind of Eat, Pray, Love knock off - I intended to spend a few months on the beach. Then Edinburgh popped into my mind and I decided to go with it. I had no idea there was a beach here or near. Although if I'd looked at a freaking map, I would have noticed that it sits on the North Sea.

Portabello, where I’m staying, is a 25-minute bus ride to the city center of Edinburgh. There's a bus stop not 5 minutes from my door and I could go in all the time but I don't. In a week and a half I've been in three times.

A cup of coffee while I watched the sun rise.

A cup of coffee while I watched the sun rise.

The first time was to find coffee. The Airbnb host had instant coffee. No. But he also had a French press. Hmmm... Those two don't work together. The closest grocery store Sainsbury Local had more instant coffee and other coffees I didn't want to attempt. Missing Anderson's, my first adventure into city center was to Artisan Roast, where I had a flat white and got their house bean ground for French press.

Apparently J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in coffee shops in Edinburgh. The Elephant Room claims she wrote it there, but I hear that's not true and others lay claim to the boast. Artisan Roast had a sign that said, "J.K. Rowling did not write here." I’ll get a picture of when I go back.

The second time I went into the city was to get a new adapter and a new flat iron. I bought an adapter/converter with me and it worked perfectly for charging my laptop, phone, etc. Until I tried to use my blow dryer. The box of the adapter says, "Use with devices like these: hair dryers, curling irons...". I plugged it in, all confident, and turned it on. Immediately, and I mean immediately, there was a pop and a curl of smoke and a burning smell from the blow dryer. (Remember what the box said?!) In addition to frying my dryer, the converter/adapter also fried itself, so I had no way to charge my laptop, phone, etc. This was dire.

I went into the city the next day to find a big Boots where I could get a cheap flat iron and I figured they'd have adapters as well. They did. I spent that afternoon walking around the castle and museums and getting a better idea of the lay of the land, swinging my big Boots bag full of UK compatible supplies. The simple adapter works just fine and the cheap flat iron is almost better than mine. I also found another coffee shop, Fortitude, where they have an amazing dark chocolate hot chocolate. Habit forming.

From certain places, Edinburgh reminds me of San Francisco.

From certain places, Edinburgh reminds me of San Francisco.

The third time I went to city center was for the local National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) meet-up. I followed their lead on what to order: a most excellent beer (something German), chips (really good french fries), and tomato soup with hearty bread. When in Rome... or Edinburgh as is the case.

They are a fun group, and we talked some about writing, but I got to ask them about Scotland and Edinburgh, what tourist-y places were worth it, and tipping. They asked me questions about Donald Trump and guns. Ugh.

In Portabello, I've found a coffee shop (and art gallery!) that I really like, The Tide. I've been there a few times. They have egg and bacon on a roll, brown sauce (!), scones and cake. I took my second draft there and started to go through it. I need to complete the third draft before November when I want to start a new novel for NaNoWriMo. I think it's going to be my main writing "office."

A singing washing machine! #travel #Scotland #edinburgh #UK #laundry

A video posted by Julia Lee (@theblisstour) on

My days here are a lot like an extended vacation, but I'm doing Airbnb, so I have chores to do. I do my laundry with the Singing Washing Machine. I love this thing and I think I've been doing more and more laundry just to hear it. I also get to hang up my laundry to dry with a nifty pulley system thing-y. Pretty cool.

I've already extended my stay here, doubled it in fact. Instead of leaving at the end of September, I'm staying until almost the end of October. The beach is too beautiful to leave in a couple of weeks. It's a sunny day again. I'm off to write!

Getting Here

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Traveling to the future is time consuming, although relatively easy. It didn’t require me to dematerialize or enter a space time continuum. There was driving, then waiting, then flying, then waiting, then flying again, then a relatively short cab ride. If seems like it was almost as much waiting as traveling. I left Ft. Pierce, Florida, my hometown at 4:00pm and I got to the flat at about 17:30 local time (look at me! I’m British!).

My first faux pas as an American traveling abroad was trying to exchange dollars for pounds at the Dublin airport. The nice lady informed me that I should wait until I got to the UK to do that so I wouldn’t get charged a double fee, because she’d have to exchange the dollars into to Euros, and then into pounds. “Aren’t we in the UK?” I inquired.

“No,” she said with a hint of fierceness in her voice (I think, I couldn’t really tell because of the accent), she declared. “We are not in the UK. This is Ireland.”

Ireland, I'm doing it for you.

Ireland, I'm doing it for you.

“Oh. Ok,” I said. I was sleep deprived, brain addled, I was still confused and not yet embarrassed. Also, I am American. About 10 minutes later, sitting, trying to connect to the airport’s wifi, I threw my head back and said out loud “European Union” like it was the answer to a trivia question. I had a 5 hour layover in the Dublin airport, so I waited until that nice lady went on break and exchanged a few dollars for the Euros I needed to buy lunch.

As penance, I ordered the Full Irish Breakfast: bacon and sausage, black and white puddings, potato and wheat toasts, and eggs. Apparently this is a thing. I’m not sure why the redundancy in each category is needed, but I tasted everything. The only thing I’d never heard of was the white pudding. I know black pudding is a blood sausage. I have no idea what’s in white pudding. And I’m not looking it up.

After another flight, I landed in Edinburgh, Scotland which is indeed a part of the UK (really, they just voted on it). I had expected it to be cold and rainy, but as I exited the airport I had to shed my wool sweater and dig out my shades from my bag. My cab driver took vacations roadtripping in the US. She'd been to Orlando and Vegas, Austin and even to Abilene, TX to see a band. That must have been a really good band.

IMG_0530.JPG

She dropped me off at the flat right on the beach. I had no idea Edinburgh had a beach, but there it is right outside my window. In fact, I hadn’t realized it until I booked this place less than 10 days ago. I'd waited until the last minute and was in a panic looking for a place to stay in Edinburgh. Then I saw this place with its beach views.

Sometimes procrastination is good.

So It Begins

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My stomach is gurgling, my mouth is dry and it’s still more than 6 hours to take off for Edinburgh, Scotland. Before I even get on the plane, I have a two hour drive from Fort Pierce to Orlando’s airport, and then an almost three hour wait for take off.  

I’m packed (note: limits for European take on luggage are slightly smaller than US limits). I’ve taken a shower again because I’m going to be traveling for about 24 hours straight.

I found a place on the beach in Edinburgh. I’ll bet you’re thinking, “There’s a beach in Edinburgh?” That’s exactly what I thought when I saw the first photo of an apartment on Airbnb overlooking sand and water. I, of course, waited until the last minute (honestly sometimes I think I work best that way), so finding a place to stay was fairly melodramatic.   

I was “declined” by the first place I requested. It stung like personal rejection, but once I had time to think about it I realized it was for the best. Diving back into the Airbnb pool required staying up almost all last Thursday night/Friday morning communicating with hosts in Europe. Sites were being snapped up quickly. After another decline (“I just booked it”), I found a place that looks out onto the shore.

Edinburgh looks to be rainy and chilly while I’m there. A great contrast to Austin and Florida. I got a warm sweater and boots for going out and exploring. And I plan to use the moody atmospherics for some writing.

I finally feel excited. Or I’m just nauseated. One or the other. I’m not 100% sure.

Less Is More. Maybe...

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Holy shit I’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff! "Stuff" seems vague. Like it might not be important. I’ll be more specific. I’ve let go of about 90% of my kitchen. Maybe more. And I had a significant kitchen. Tools, appliances, pots, pans, dishes, etc. Everything for cooking, baking, entertaining. I don’t feel bad about it. Some of the things I hadn’t used in years. Some I never used more than once a year, if that. Some I used every day.

Other pieces that survived the move from the house, didn’t survive this. My couch that was an awesome daybed, still looked fresh after 7 years as I gave it away; my Big Comfy Chair (the BCC) as I called it from the moment I got it when I lived in Brooklyn; the TV; the bookcases, the desks, etc.

The movers haven't come and gone. This is all that's left.

The movers haven't come and gone. This is all that's left.

Gone. Sold, given to friends, donated to Goodwill (seriously if you want cool/good kitchen stuff, you might want to swing by the Goodwill at Lamar and 2222 soon). I still have the dinner table I’m using it to write on right now. But as I type, three people are asking for it. It won’t stay long.

Last but not least my beloved washer and dryer. Of all the things I’m letting go of, I’m most traumatized by that. When I moved to Austin, for the first time I had my own private washer and dryer, no coins required. It was a glorious thing, to do laundry at any time, in my own space, instead of down in a basement or blocks away. I will miss my washer and dryer and I already dream of their replacement.

I’m not sure I’ll miss other things though. We Americans shop constantly but we don’t get rid of anything, so then we get bigger and bigger houses and fill them up to the point that a 2000 square foot house is too small for two people. I’m not sure if I’m a budding minimalist, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to re-purchase the popover pan. I could be wrong. At some point in the future, I could get an violent desire to make popovers. But right now, I’m doubting that.

But I have to admit, I feel as if I’m regressing a bit. I went from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house to a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment. I had no idea how much I would need to scale down. Even after I moved I sold more stuff and donated a couple of carloads of stuff. Now I could easily fit into a small studio, but could I function? I don’t have a pot to boil an egg in. How would this work?

I’m excited to see what my taste is like now as opposed to 15 or 20 years ago. What draws my eye? I moved to Austin with a bed, a table, my BCC, and 30 boxes, probably a third of which were filled with books. I have two boxes of books now. That’s it. I’m leaving Austin (permanently? temporarily? still don’t know) with less. But I’m thinking less is more. Maybe...

P.S. The dinner table is gone.