Sticky Apple Kisses

Sadly this is it for my visitors. Tracey went back to London yesterday to finish her visit with her friend Jeff before she returns to Newfoundland. I think though I may have helped to create a monster. She is eying Europe as a potential stomping ground, and trust me, I do not need much of a nudge to go visiting her in London. It has been a long time since I have been there. Longer than I like to admit actually because it means the years are sneaking up on me. GAAAAA As in 5 or 6 years. I think I am going to go vomit now.

It’s not that I did not love London, I did. And when I had to stay in London hotels (which was not all that often because I was working there the majority of time and provided with accommodation) I always enjoyed my stay there. But I am a complete gypsy at heart, and I always want to go someplace new. Renewing my visa this year was the hardest thing I ever did. This is the first time I have stayed in a country past my initial year. And if Germany was not so central and so easy to explore the rest of Europe, I may have ran away.

But I was able to show Tracey a good time I think, and we spent her birthday with a visit to Neuschwanstein, which is one of (if not) Germany’s top tourist attraction and therefore a place none of the Germans I know have actually gone to visit themselves.

But despite castles and beer she has abandoned me to finish her holiday in London before running away to Paris for 3 days. My little travelers apartment can not compare to Paris hotels, but if you come back soon I promise to take you to Munich where you can have your pick of Munich hotels and lots of German beer!

So we survived our first weekend together on Germany’s highways and in the Black Forest. I have always joked that Autobahn is the German’s own Formula One Race Track. My father was driving Patrick’s old VW Polo. My father who hasn’t driven a standard in years, and never for longer than to move my brother’s car from the driveway.

Plotting the route:

So now we are on a highway that has no speed limits (and Mercedes and BMW’s and Audi’s blasted past us like we were doing 90 instead of 140). Lets say that dad treated himself to some German beer once we got to our hotel.

On a different note mom finally went for a bike ride! She never went for long, and she refused to get on back for the autobahn, but Germany has Bundesstraßen (federal roads) as well as Landesstraßes, which are lovely country roads that let you travel along and enjoy the country side as you go!

Mom suiting up:

and getting ready to go!

If worse came to worse we would have stopped at a hotel along the way to recover from the stress or if we terribly lost~! Hotelsdeutsche has thousands of hotels conveniently located for last minute travelers by road in cases of emergency, as well as cheap last minute specials, and we are off to Munich next week!

You need money to make money. I have never seen that to be as true as when my partner recommended his bank for traveling. An international bank, it meant he could take out money whenever and wherever he wanted in the world, for free! As I was with a Canadian bank with no branches outside of Canada, when I wanted to do this I was charged a rather hefty fee. So it seemed like fantastic thing. Upon looking into it further I found out that its only a free account if you already have a sum of way more than I had with the bank. And that was not to open it, it had to remain at that set sum, dip below and you still got charged a monthly fee. Since leaving school and working I have used all my money to first pay off my credit cards, and then to pay off my student loans. And yes the second loan (in Canada there is a dual system, one from your province, and one from the federal government) still needs to be paid back, but hey, I cut my year traveling down to 3 months and choose to pay off my federal loan instead. The Sherrie of 3 years ago would have been sending postcards from Carnival in Brazil instead. I deserve credit, and I deserve Betty!

Either way, its just another example of how having money works for you. Not having it makes it much harder, even with something as simple as a Cash Advance Today.  Complete Loan Source will help you with your cash strapped situation however.  And you can get that cash through an online application, anytime, you just need access to an internet connection.

I am in love love love with Betty. We spent the afternoon at the ADAC compound driving her around. Let me rephrase that, I spent the afternoon driving her around while Patrick watched me. (he had to drive her there, stupid Germany!!!) Either way, the upcoming trip began to feel more real, even if it was compound driving. And now we are about to sit down with maps of Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Russia and start planning.

With the upcoming trip however I am looking into the best way to keep in contact, my poor mother will be freaking out the entire 3 months at the thought of her baby no longer on the back of the bike, but driving one. (not that the thought of me on the back was overly soothing to her, but for that one you need to come back on the 28th for my How I met my honey carnival post).

I will confess to being one of those people who has slipped into the comfort of online communities for the majority of my social contact with people back home. We were talking in class yesterday about our world becoming a surveillance society, we dont need Big Brother to watch us, because we just offer it to him.

Though I do think about what it means to have all our information on networking sites, and I try to be careful now with some of my information (they key point is some, because I shared so much without thinking about it in the past I sometimes wonder if its worth the effort to hide it now, and I blog using my real name), I don’t see myself stopping. It is just far too convenient to put all my photos and news on a site for my friends to see.

Of course in regards to my last post I am not that picky. Today I put in a 13.5 hour day. 8 am - 9 30 pm. My hour off I treated myself to all you can eat sushi, and grabbed a venti Starbucks latte as I ran for the train to round off my afternoon. Not only did I send myself into a spiral of illness (please do not attempt that combo, its not the pleasurable treat you may envision it to be), but that 25 minute ride out I kept thinking about everything my friend had said about New Zealand. And then I got to thinking about the New Zealand/Australia combo (you apply once for two visas, one good for a year each), and the program gives you accommodation in Sydney or accommodation in Perth for when you first arrive. And I got to thinking about all the awesome riding we could do in two years while working and traveling.

The problem is not so much the year or two off, as Patrick was up for a trip from Argentina on home this year. It is not even having to worry about accommodation in Melbourne or accommodation in Brisbane or anywhere we may turn up, cheap hostels abound, and there is always the tent!

Rather, it comes down to the fact that Patrick does not want to work but travel and travel alone (although I keep pointing out work is a great way to meet people and get into a country, he keeps pointing out how much I loath jobs and how guilty I feel each time I have to quit one).  Minor details I say compared to two years of travel without having to put in 13 hour days leading up to it!

As I mentioned, I bailed on Copenhagen this weekend just because I am just so shattered with work, and then my German course, as well as trying to squeeze in the required on the bike time so I can have my German motorcyle license (and be able to drive Betty instead of just the Black Devil). Caroline, the girl I was to travel with, is also feeling the pressure of how much work we have, and has been talking about how much she would love to go back to New Zealand. Her stories and her pictures from there make me so jealous, and it is so tempting to take advantage of the youth work visa they offer.

I tried to convince Patrick to take off with me, I think New Zealand would be an awesome place to bike, and if we went through SWAP they set us up with Auckland Hotels, Christchurch Hotels, or Wellington Hotels for when you first arrive there. Even just going for 5 or 6 months while working and traveling.

His answer?

He would absolutely love to go, and he plans to do so, but not before he is retired. He hopes to nab a grandkid (I hope he means one of his own) and take off for a summer in an RV, just the two of them.

This may mean I am plotting my way to NZ on my own. Everyone you have been warned!

For those who particularly liked my post on my father’s “bonding” (read scare) tactics, you will be happy to know both my parents are coming for a visit the end of the month. The fact we do not have a TV has already induced threats of going to my neighbor’s apartment (Samara has warned her boyfriend he may come home to find a strange middle age man sitting on his couch watching their widescreen TV. Even more so because they pay for American channels), and let us not forget that every time I mention sauna he throws a minor fit and throws the phone across the room shouting about “speak to my mother” and “he better not end up naked with anyone outside of my mother.” It’s fun. Though I really should care more about his blood pressure.

They are coming through Heathrow though, and I really hope they do not encounter any problems. The nice thing is they do no have to worry about trying to get parking at the airport. Or us for that matter, parking at an airport is rarely cheap unless you luck into finding parking for less, rather they just transfer there and come on through to Germany. So I hope they have the lost bag situation figured out by then. That and parking at the airport here is so much easier than UK airport parking.

This time last year I was in Ontario Canada visiting my brother and his family, getting ready to come to Germany. (I was literally just waiting for my VISA this time last year, the VISA I got 5 days before I was scheduled to fly. Not the closest I have cut it, but close enough to feel some discomfort).

It was also right about now I finally accepted that my old laptop was trash (the thing had been possessed by zombies and would type jabhsjkabdjhsbdjsahbdjksahbdjkashdu all by itself - for 5 or 10 minutes at a time), but I had these great sticker club stickers all over it and I just did not want to part with it.

However part with it I did, and I looked into getting an IBM, not a brand new AS/400, but Patrick’s cousin had found a site that sold IBMs that were a year or two old, and he had used them in the past.   Patrick ordered the computer for me (I had just bought a plane ticket to his country, he was buying the computer and letting me pay him back without the interest that using my credit card would’ve meant), and I waited.   AND waited, AND waited.  Turns out they would not send the computer to a Canadian address when the billing address was European.  I was angry, and went to giant chain electronic store and bought my laptop.  Which despite being a Toshiba (which I had thought was a decent name) sounds like a space ship reentering the atmosphere after about 40 minutes.

For once I have to say it, I should have listened to Patrick and waited until I found another place to buy a decent computer.  Performance Data Resources may have been such a source, as they offer new and refurbished IBMs (as I was looking for) WITH free shipping, but more importantly they offer tech support for everything from cables to troubleshooting assistance.  And they probably would have let either myself or my partner as the buyer and receiver that the computer we were waiting for was never actually going to come.

If you read, or will read my TMT, you may be wondering what happened after my father so gracefully dropkicked my then boyfriend. (There is after all a reason the dropkick is my preferred method of attack). Surprisingly nothing. The boyfriend was a skinny tall dude (if your thinking about Patrick and thinking I prefer skinny tall dudes you would be wrong, as a look past at my dating history reveals all shapes and sizes, some names my brothers have attached include “gronk” and “the hobbit.”) If you are an ex and reading this, remember my brothers are cruel when it comes to their sister, and protective, and you undoubtedly did something to make me cry. They were just trying to make me feel better as well as venting their anger without physically maiming you. Consider it a good thing. They also could never figure out my penchant for boys who seemed to prefer computers or gaming to me. (I am just a sucker for geek humor, and once Im laughing Im in love. Especially if you feed me and don’t mind being sprayed with crumbs as I laugh).

Either way, nothing happened. Ex had a look of shock, and then nervously laughed it off. My father was thrown out of his matches when he did kickbox for kicking too hard. (apparently he decided the dude was too cocky and had to be taught a lesson, and therefore was worth being tossed out of the tournament because he knew he won the fight, even if not officially).