Category Archives:
Ireland

I’ve moved out of the hostel. I’m now living in a massage parlor. What? Yes. I’m living with two friends from face2face and three girls from Canada in a massage parlor. They signed a lease on a flat and were supposed to move in last week. The tenants who ran the massage parlor were supposed to move out at the same time. Unfortunately, their new place isn’t quite ready. So, until the middle of December, our flat serves as a massage parlor from 11 – 6.

Quite the story. It gets better. My bed is the couch in the living room. Said living room is actually the reception area of the massage center. I was on the couch sleeping yesterday when I heard the door open. A man walked into the living room (reception area) and asked, “Are you guys open?” The answer was, “No, it’s Sunday.” The door downstairs was somehow left open.

So, yeah. It’s not ideal. But it’s cheap and if nothing else makes for one hell of a story.

Oh, and the answer is, “I’m not yet sure.” I’ve yet to find out whether or not we get discounted massages. I’m fairly certain this would be your next question.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the kitchen of my hostel. I’m here with eight other people who are either living in this hostel or coworkers of someone who lives here. We’re enjoying drinks, conversation, and music. I decided I needed to sit down and write.

The eight people I’m with are more or less in the same situation I am. We’re traveling. We’re meeting new people. We’re poor. We’re living life. We’re working or looking for work. More importantly, we’re experiencing what exists outside of the comfortable place we call our home. All of our stories are somewhat different. But, we share as a common bond our desire to fully experience this world we live in.

When describing my situation to people I meet, I often tell them I’m, ‘delaying the inevitable.’ In a sense, this is true. Most likely, the inevitable is I settle down and get a steady job working forty or more hours a week. This is only the inevitable if I choose this path. It’s not difficult to get by in Ireland. It is one god damn expensive country, but I’m doing okay. If I can survive here, I can survive anywhere. Will I eventually settle down? Sure. My family means too much to not eventually move home. As for now, I’m choosing to live my life differently than many of my peers. I wish more people would choose the path I’m taking. If this blog accomplishes one thing, let one person reading it decide that they’ll move abroad. Escape their comfort zone.

I’m rambling. I know. Yesterday, I emailed the author of one of the few blogs I check regularly. If you’re from Iowa City, there is a good chance you’ve read about him. Brian Triplett left home just before the beginning of 2007 and spent a year traveling throughout the world. Reading his blog furthered my desire to move abroad. His writings put my blog entries to shame. He ended his reply to my email with this: