A Pint, A Glass, A Cup


Nine days in counting and yours truly will be taking off for his first European vacation. The closest I’ve gotten to globe trotting is watching National Lampoon’s European Vacation a 100 times. “Look kids, there’s Big Ben.” A classic in its own right no doubt, I can only hope my trip is as entertaining without all of the physical comedy.

Luckily I live in a mini UN, as one roommate is from London while the other is from Cape Town and have both traveled all over the world. I have done little planning thus far just because when it comes to traveling that’s just something I don’t usually find the need to do. However, this is a little different from heading down to Florida to see the parents or back to Arizona to see old friends. After all, I think I used a note from my mom to get through security at Fort Lauderdale airport.

The reason behind this perfectly timed vacation is a wedding. Relax, I’m not swinging through Russia to pick up a Mail Ordered Bride. Now that I think about it, even if I was she wouldn’t really be mail ordered as I would be there to pick her up…it would be more like a COD bride.

I am actually taking a leap across the pond for the nuptials of two good friends of mine. They’re getting married in a small town in Ireland. Most of my trip, that will include stops in Paris (oh la la) and London, will be spent in the Irish Spring Hills of that same small town outside of Shannon.

The parts of the trip I’m struggling with are parallel with the same issues I’m dealing with stateside. Sure, the idea of backpacking Europe sounds amazing. Not shaving, moving from place to place on a nightly basis, traveling lightly and worrying the same. However, I don’t know if I’m wired that way…It’s that same idea or way of living, thinking and breathing that gets me some days in the city. Why am I lugging to work to report to the man when I should be writing, working, trying to host my own show, and doing all of this for me in a city that allows for such a lifestyle?

That being said there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to step foot in a youth hostel and share a common bathroom with 3 other foreign travelers and sleep in a twin bed. After all it’s Europe, they invented the finer things of life. I would love the chance to Hotel vs Hostel hopping from one to another. I would love to have breakfast outside countless cafes every morning while experiencing a ’78 Bordeaux by night. That type of power thinking is the same infectious mindset that hits me every time I wear a suit, every time I give a great presentation, every time I rub elbows with the ‘higher-ups’ and I love that feeling all the same…

So I guess the question is, can I live or travel to two different worlds in this lifetime? Is there a place somewhere in the middle that offers a combination of both? I don’t know the answer yet, but I hope to have a better idea sooner rather than later…

Thanks for listening