{"id":340,"date":"2020-06-09T12:02:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wanderofwanders.com\/?p=340"},"modified":"2020-06-09T12:35:51","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T16:35:51","slug":"__trashed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderofwanders.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/09\/__trashed-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The adventure begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mine is the story of an everyday life that is about to take a turn toward the extraordinary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within days, I will board an airplane from the U.S. bound for\nIreland, a place I will soon call home. I know few people there. I haven\u2019t\ntraveled frequently to the \u201could sod\u201d like so many who know its nooks and\ncrannies. I don\u2019t have a lot of money and never have. I am long divorced,\nrecently retired, fortunate to be strong, healthy and wiser than ever before. I\nthink I know myself, and yet I know the person who has lived an everyday life.\nWhat joys and challenges lurk inside that I\u2019ve yet to discover? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              This is a dream realized. I have put\nmy American life in storage, keeping only those things that are either\nessential or that, Marie Kondo-like, bring me joy. I intend to move to the west\ncoast of Ireland, not too far from Galway, find a modest place to rent and\nsettle in. I will live not far from my own ancestral roots \u2013 the village of\nClougher in County Tyrone \u2013 and can\u2019t wait to explore them. Like many second-\nand third-generation Americans, my mongrel DNA also can be found in France,\nGermany and Austria. And so I plan to make forays to continental Europe. Portugal\nawaits, as does Greece. I long to visit the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, stay\nin a tiny Italian village, lounge on a beach in Croatia, explore Norwegian\nfjords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              But it is Ireland, more than any\nother place, that calls to me. What will it be like to have in my life those\nfriendly and engaging people, to walk among its craggy hills strewn with\nancient cairns, to listen unbound by time constraints to its music, in turn\nlively and haunting, which has always soothed my soul? It is a country almost\nbeyond reckoning to me, a place where quite literally fairy tales can come\ntrue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not a decision quickly or easily reached. For me,\nthe turning point came when I changed my thinking from, \u201cI can\u2019t possibly\u201d to\n\u201cmaybe.\u201d Maybe this could work. From that maybe, all things flowed. Preparation\nwas, of course, paramount. I took deep internet dives on almost a daily basis,\njoined a few key travel organizations, became a member of private social media  groups (many geared toward solo women\ntravelers), read anything I could get my hands on and took some online courses\n\u2013 some free, some charging a nominal fee. Of course, I\u2019ve accomplished all of\nthis from the comfort of my home. I\u2019ve yet to live any of it. I know that no\nmatter how well prepared I am, the unexpected will present itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Take, for\npertinent instance, COVID-19. My initial plan was to leave in early April, precisely\nat the height of the first pandemic spread here in the US. I canceled my flight\nand put my life on hold these past several months. I\u2019ve largely been a hermit, not\nunlike every other person in the world, doing my part to \u201cflatten the curve.\u201d I\ndo not take this virus cavalierly, not a bit. At 68, despite my great health\nand strength, I dare not. It would be easy to decide to stay \u2013 to unpack the\nstuff in storage, to put the funds painstakingly set aside for this move back\ninto circulation here in America, to put off this move until the vaccine is\ncreated and my financial situation is more secure. I am choosing instead to go,\nto take the chance now. Does this decision add uncertainty to the venture? You\nbet. But I do this with eyes open and heart full. To quote 19th<\/sup>\ncentury Irish playwright and folklorist Lady Augusta Gregory, \u201cI felt more and\nmore the time wasted that was not spent in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              I\u2019d love\nfor you to join me on this uncharted adventure. Along the way, we\u2019ll share a\nmeal or two together, visit out-of-the-way places, meet some interesting\ncharacters, explore some history, and maybe raise a glass or two. I will also\nshare with you any tips I\u2019ve learned to make foreign living and foreign travel\neasier. This is particularly true for you elder women who, like me, yearn to breathe\nfree. You might as well learn from what I\u2019m sure will be my numerous mistakes,\nas well as from what I hope will be my triumphs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thanks for taking the time to read my\nfirst blog post. And stay tuned. The best is yet to come!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Tips for wandering<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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