This Trip Sunday

"Ok, so where all are you going on this trip?"
"What, you mean the thing on sunday when I am going to France and then around the world?"
"Yea, this trip sunday. Where are you going?"

(actual conversation with my mother)

It's 4:24 AM sunday, Boone, time, and shit's getting tight. My bag is almost packed, I have some laundry left in the drier, and I really hope that I get to sleep on at least one of my flights, because I am a tad tired. It should come as no surprise to anyone that it is rather difficult to sleep the night before flying a third of the way around the world without anything remotely resembling return plans.

The first misadventure is already Well Underway. I never successfully arranged for accommodations during the language immersion program, so my plan is as follows:

1. Change many dollars into many euros.
2. Take euros to student housing apartment complex.
3. ???
4. Profit.

I'll also have, you know, a copy of my student identification and a copy of my passport. At least I think I do. Worst comes to worst, I have to slum it in a hostel for a few days. Indeed, first order of business is registering in a hostel Monday morning, so I at least have a place to stay monday night. I am really hoping that the apartment works out, though, because, you know, bachelor pad on the French Riviera during the summertime.

Wink wink.

4:40. Time to go soon. I regret to report that I do not think I will be capable of eating my customary Cinnabon in the Charlotte airport. I say that now, but I'll probably have to eat my own words in the nxt post. Which, by the way, should be by Tuesday at the latest.

The Basic Plan

I am starting out with a few key possessions:

-enough money to get myself into trouble but not back out of it,
-outdated backpacker stories from my mother
-if the next two months goes well, fluency in two languages plus change,
-A vaguely planned route. I'll see about posting pictures soon.

My name is Destry Questman Jones, and I will be your host for the next few months, should you care to join me. In lieue of the normal route of life for people my age, I have chosen to frivol away all of my grandmother's hard saved currency on a world tour of places you probably wouldn't normally want to go.

First stop on the trip, two months in Nice, FR, where I will spend half of days studying french, and the other half studying France. I still don't have an apartment there, but I am reasonably sure that I will be ok in that department, as I have successfully opened discussions with one of the more reasonably located centers of student accommodation.

Had a spot of trouble getting my passport, but none of you probably care about that. It is Wednesday night in Boone, and I fly out from Charlotte sunday morning, bright and early.

No, seriously, its gonna really damn early, something that I personally love and that my mother personally won't stop giving me shit about. However, since neither of them is willing to miss the sendoff, they will be driving me down together, before sharing what I am sure will be a lovely brunch with Uncle Pat and Aunt Marie.

I, in the meantime, will begin the 30 hour extravaganza that will get me from Charlotte to Nice. As it stands, I am flying from Charlotte to NYC, NYC to Reykjavik (Iceland Air was the cheapest, what do you want from me), Reykjavik to Paris, and Paris to Nice, arriving sometime in the late hours of the morning on monday. Upon my arrival, I will have until that evening to finish arranging accommodations.

I'm sure I'll manage.