What Kind of Tale

As the end of Frodo and Sam's perilous journey to Mordor looms ahead, the companions wonder what sort of tale they have fallen into... "You may know, or guess, what kind of tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in [the tale] don't know. And you don't want them to" (Frodo). These brave hobbits set out across Middle Earth on a mission that must not fail; they set out not knowing how their tale would end.

I was driving home this Friday when I was struck by the exciting fact that my sis and I will be headed to Ireland next month! An uncontrollable smile broke onto my face at the thought. I've had many of these moments over the past few months. But then I inevitably start thinking of all the things that could go wrong... what if we don't get to see all the things we want to; what if there are issues with our reservations; what if one of us loses her passport (...again...); what if we're robbed; what if we get sick; what if we find a magic Ring that threatens our current existence??

I begin to wonder what sort of tale this will be.

There are all sorts of unavoidable risks when traveling anywhere, let alone traveling abroad. But I know that no matter what sort of tale this turns out to be, it will be a memorable and worthwhile one. I certainly know that one of the most fun and dependable companions will be right by my side as this tale is written. And our final destination is a far less daunting than the fires of Mount Doom! How amazing it will be for our family to join in on our little tale in its last chapters!

I'll end this entry by reassuring you that my excitement outweighs my worries. No matter how thorough my "outline" for this tale is, I am not the One writing this tale. Things won't go exactly as I hope or imagine. Things may go wrong and it probably will rain the whole time (weather in I/UK... *sigh*). But that's okay. I don't know how the tale ends and, just as Frodo suggested, I don't want to. Because each line of each paragraph of each chapter is all part of the adventure - all part of the tale we've fallen into.

-C&C

"The brave things in the old tales and songs...adventures, as I used

to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk

of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them,

because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport,

as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that

really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have

been just landed in them, usually - their paths were laid that way, as

you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning

back, only they didn't. ... We hear about those as just went on - and

not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a

story and not outside it call a good end. ... I wonder what sort of

tale we've fallen into? "

- Sam, The Two Towers, J.R.R Tolkien

Kindred Steps

In middle school English class, I had to write a poem of where I've come from. This is line I came up with for my Grandpa and Grandma: "I am from the the halls of books and the entrepreneur from busy streets of steel and kindred steps on theatre trips." This blog post is in memory of my Grandma, who passed away on April 21, 2010.

Like my sis and me, my Grandma had a travel bug. It started with "kindred steps" with her governess to the theatre. Once she got married, she traveled with my Grandpa and her three children around the US in a camper one summer. After her children had grown up and my sis and I were already born, she toured around Alaska with my Grandpa. And a couple years later, she even went as far as Australia!

So, Grandma, my sis and I would like to honor your memory today. We want to thank you for your thirst for unique ideas and knowledge, your devoted love to your children and grandchildren and great grandchild, and the inspiration of your adventures.

-C&C

Baby Steps

"Baby step to the elevator...I'm in the elevator...AHHHHH!!!" - Bob, What About Bob?

Hi! C senior here. Most of you have heard about the movie What About Bob?, starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. If you haven't, it is the story of how a fame seeking psychiatrist is eventually driven mad by the good intentions of one of his patients, Bob. In some ways, C junior and I feel the paranoia of costs, the claustrophobia of details, and the paralysis of what ifs brought on by this trip. But, like Bob, we need to remind ourselves to just baby step through the process.

So, here are some of our planning "baby steps" (...we'll let you know if they actually work when we get there):

1. Get a good guidebook. We decided to use Rick Steves's Ireland and Great Britain.
2. Create a budget. This is very important so that you can estimate your expected costs and also make room for the unexpected.
• We had transportation, housing, food, and entertainment as our categories.
• It was also helpful to have two versions of your budget: general estimates and detailed estimates.
3. Get started early. Planning should take a long time. Embrace it. The freedom you will experience is worth all the blood, sweat and tears you put into this process.

I hope these pointers, ahem, baby steps can help you plan your own grand adventure.


At the end of it all, I hope we can yell as joyfully as Bob, "I'm sailing! I'm sailing! I'm sailing! I sail! I'm a sailor! I sail!"

...or in our case, "We're traveling! We're exploring! We're adventuring! We travel! We're travelers! We travel!" :)

-C&C

Edit: Here is an excellent travel blog I came across that also discusses travel tips and itineraries: http://stephaniefleischer.blogspot.com/