(un)comfor(table) zone

Disclaimer: There is no right or wrong way to travel. People travel the way they please. I respect that. Please respect my own way.

When I was still living back home I used to frequent fancy pubs. Didn't mind a lot of spending lots of money in partying, gadgets, nice car. Went out practically every weekend. Then one day in 2008 someone introduced to Couchsurfing and it was then when all began to change.

During the year I hosted, traveled and hung out with CSers I met all kinds of travelers: week long holiday travelers. Foreigners wanting to learn spanish therefore staying for a few months immersing into the culture. Long term travelers staying in hostels and couchsurfing. These ones where the ones that really intrigued me.

They were traveling for months straight or even years. The key word they mentioned was "low budget". Many people in Guatemala save a lot (or use their credit cards a lot!) to travel. Then they go back to work more and start saving again, or to pay the debts they got into.

It took me a few years to finally leave my comfort zone. When I started to travel I stayed in hostels, not many but still. Well, only in Central America. In the States and Europe I have never paid one single night of accommodation. In the States I didn't hitchhike. I took trains, car shared and even flew twice.

Summer 2010. I met Jass in København and he told me about this wonderful place in Amsterdam: Casa Robino. There, I met more wonderful people and that told me about this thing called the hitchgathering. In the couple of pre-gatherings that I attended I met more wonderful people. One person in particular caught my attention: Tomi. When I met him he had been traveling moneyless for a few months. If he can, why shouldn't I give it a shot? I still suck at traveling moneyless but that was a turning point in my life when I decided that at least I was going to travel spending as little as possible. I quite good at it, except when it comes to booze and girlfriends.

I stayed for year in Estonia. I got quite comfortable here. Not that is anything wrong with it but it's just that I liked me more when money was the least of my concerns. My friend wrote that the comfort zone is inside your hear, like my happy place. In my case is not exactly like that. It's so easy to eat Macdonald's or go to Rimi to buy a frozen pizza... or two. A couple of days ago I cooked something for the first time in a few weeks. Cereal, sandwiches and pancakes from Knight House don't count.

I don't even know what I'm writing. I had my last shift last night. My last shift at Alur Hostel. my home for almost a year. I'm very sad. Timing sucks. Timing is shit.

I'm leaving Estonia in less than 24 hours. I think, I  hope that this small roadtrip to Portugal will help me  leave my comfort zone again.

Not sure how often I will post after I leave. For sure I will not write about the road itself but about life on the road. I will try not to describe the trip.

I have a long, cold road ahead of me. But people will make it warm. Eeer, that came out wrong, anyway, you get my point. I was hoping to start hitchhiking without snow but the first snow came yesterday.

There are no "goddbyes" but "see you laters"

mid-fucking-summer

Photo by Joxemi

This was supposed to be posted before the "weirdness" post but I completely forgot about it. Maybe it was exactly because of that, of my weird state of mine... that I still have.

Maybe I should've waited until my birthday celebrations/midsummer were over to write something about it.

I knew that in Scandinavia celebrate midsummer. I think I had an idea that also is celebrated in the Baltic States, what I didn't know was that it was a big celebration over here. I've never been to any Scandinavian country during this celebration, or in summertime for that matter. My first time in Estonia I was a couple of weeks too late. Another thing I didn't know was that is celebrated on my fucking birthday! What are the odds for that!?

But it was not all happiness. The few Estonian friends I know were going to celebrate the bonfire in the country side. I was going to stay in Tallinn. I've heard that Tallinn was going to be dead. That was far from being the truth. I mean, there was a bonfire on the beach on Patarei prison. It was a huge (at least for me) bonfire.

Photo by Joxemi

I think I've spent my best birthday so far. I've drank with people from many countries. I've met new people. New wonderful people.

I don't know what else to write. I have been in a weird state of mind that prevents me to write something worth reading. Not that I'm good at it but at least, I would like to think, that it doesn't suck that much.