Friends!
Many of you are probably wondering "what has Leeor been doing these past six months? What country is he in? Did he find a portal to another galaxy?" although I assume even more of you are wondering "Leeor, who is that, I can't remember people I haven't heard from in 6 months"
Well the writing is resuming! But because I can't fit six months into one update, I'll split these up a bit, meaning this email will not take you to the present. I"ll try to leave a nice cliff hanger to keep it interesting.
Many of you are probably wondering "what has Leeor been doing these past six months? What country is he in? Did he find a portal to another galaxy?" although I assume even more of you are wondering "Leeor, who is that, I can't remember people I haven't heard from in 6 months"
Well the writing is resuming! But because I can't fit six months into one update, I'll split these up a bit, meaning this email will not take you to the present. I"ll try to leave a nice cliff hanger to keep it interesting.
New Years
It's difficult to think all the way back to the last update, but if I remember correctly, I was somewhat sick with a sinus infection, sitting around at home trying to do my translation work but actually just reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, and decided last minute to traverse 1500 km to meet Laurène in Berlin to celebrate new years.
The trip to Berlin was rather uneventful as far as trips go. I had successfully arranged a rideshare from Montpellier to Strasbourg and found a group of people to take the train with me on a special, very cheap ticket from Karlsruhe to Berlin. In the last minute I managed to find a rideshare to take me in the morning from Strasbourg to Karlsruhe so I didn't have to undergo the 30 km walk followed by an S-bahn ride which I had been considering. This did leave me without a place to sleep in Strasbourg, but luckily enough, after discovering that the train station was not open all night, one of the people who did the rideshare with me offered to let me sleep in her apartment. The train ride in Germany also presented a new experience. I had managed to find four other people via the rideshare website and we bought a group ticket that allowed us to ride on any regional train. To get from Karlsruhe to Berlin we needed to change trains four or five times and it took close to 12 hours. Coming out of Nuremberg, the train was so full that our group got split up and only after a lot of running and shoving were we able to meet back up. Finally I found myself in the main train station in Berlin, near a Christmas tree that was probably 10 meters tall, pacing around and waiting for Laurène to arrive. The entire trip I had been somewhat distracted and on edge, anxious to see her after almost ten days of being apart. And then came the wonderful moment when she walked down the stairs and we were together again.
The stay in Berlin forms a chain of one strange experience leading to the next. We managed to find a couchsurfing host that lived in a 7 person apartment owned by a sailing club which had offices and a bar directly below the apartment. We got put in someone's bedroom on a loft bed with two other couch surfers sleeping on the floor below us. During the day we just wandered around Berlin, taking in the city and occasionally trying to find a break from the cold and to give our tired legs a rest. Laurène's brother was also in Berlin so we spent some time with him and his friends, during which time I successfully made a good impression by falling asleep in a cafe and then eating a small plateful of butter. On a whim, we spent New Year's eve with friends of Laurène who also came from France to Berlin in order to celebrate. We counted down on the Warschauer bridge and spent a few hours at a club before walking many kms to sleep in the hostel with the friends who vacated a bed for us. One of my ears kept ringing for four days because of all the firecrackers. After four hours of sleep we were woken up at 9 in the morning and told we had to leave because there was suspicion the hostel owners knew we had spent the night. The city looked as if it has been under attack, the streets littered with trash from firecrackers, food, and drinks.
We had a hard time getting back into our couchsurfing house. We never actually saw our host again, and when we were finally let into the house in the evening, it turned out the the person whose room we were given had returned, so we found ourselves sleeping in the office of the sailing club until early in the morning when we begin the hitchhike journey home.
But for me, more than anything, the trip was about us, about Laurène and me. I surprised myself by how attached I had become, something I had only fully realized after having a moment away and feeling the joy and relief of being reunited. Wandering the streets of Berlin also gave us uninterrupted hours to just be together without the stress of work, friends, and other responsibilities. The trip was important and meaningful for me, to get me moving when I felt stuck, but more than anything it was important for us, it removed doubt and created a greater understanding of our bond and commitment to each other.
The Decision
Well before sunrise on January 2nd, we began our trip back to Montpellier, intended to be done only by hitchhiking. Despite the cold, it was easily among the best hitchhiking experiences I've ever had. Hitchhiking alone is lonely and I often find myself losing hope when things don't go well. A hitchhiking buddy is always great, and none is better than the person I most wanted to be with. Not to mention that Laurène is a very hardy and adaptable traveler. She enjoys whining about certain things, and can get hangry if she has absolutely nothing to eat, but I can think of no one else who handles cold, long hours, uncomfortable sleeping conditions, bad weather, mistakes, bad luck, and all the other misfortunes of travel, as well as she does. Aside from a 2 hour wait near Nuremberg, we were able to arrive at her friends' house in Stuttgart without too many problems, spent a pleasant night and morning there, and then continued on. It took us in total two and a half days to reach Montpellier, which is about 1500 kms away.
But aside from the fun adventurousness of hitchhiking, there was another important thing that happened during the three days between when we left Berlin and when we arrived in Montpellier. Laurène and I remember slightly different versions of this event, but I'll share mine because I think it's cute. Regardless of version, the result was that Laurène and I were to begin travelling together. My version goes as follows: Laurène and I were discussing different types of loving relationships: romantic, platonic, familial, etc. I made the comment that I think people's varied expectations are interesting, because if someone were to say that they are moving to a different city or country to live with a friend, most people would find that strange, but the same decision made for a partner is generally accepted as pretty normal. Then I gave the following example "when I talk to people in Montpellier and tell them that I'm dating someone they respond 'oh, so you're staying in France?' and when I say no they say 'oh, so Laurène is coming with you?' and I respond that I would love for her to come with me but that I'm not sure she wants to leave her job and her friends". The main disagreement Laurène and I have is whether I was clearly extending an invitation at that point or just telling a story. Regardless, after arriving in Montpellier, Laurène asked if I really want her to come travelling with me, and I answered of course. She spent the next day cleaning her room and thinking about it, and finally decided she would go travelling. She had always wanted to go off and travel, and this was the great opportunity come by to just do it. The moment when she said she wants to go travelling with me was and will probably remain the best moment mine three years journey.
Indefinite
The date of departure was soon set for February 9th, and the month passed in a whirlwind of preparations and emotions. I found myself faced with a mountain of work. I had done almost nothing during the first two months of the three months I had for my translation job, so I began spending most of each day at the library in order to try to concentrate and catch up. Aside from that I was trying to prepare a little for the journey. We were going to hitchhike close to 3000 kms in February through countries with cold winters where we don't speak the language. I spent many hours trying to get a better sense of what could and couldn't work and trying to arrange some places for us to sleep.
But all of my efforts were nothing compared to what Laurène was trying to get through. She was still working full time, had to deal with stress around leaving her job early and trying to discover what she might still be able to receive in benefits. She had a room in a house, a car, a cat, all sorts of belongings such as clothing, keyboard, guitar, etc. that had to find some place to move to. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with her friends before leaving. I spent much of my time and energy trying to be helpful in whatever practical way I could, and providing emotional support, as what she had to go through was not only time consuming but also emotionally draining. One of the better moments for both of us was the goodbye party we had. Only a few of my friends were able to show up (I didn't have all that many to begin with), and most arrived early and left early. But Laurène is a very social person and has many friends in Montpellier (and friends from farther away that came for the party). Plus she wanted many people there, so it was the type of party where friends invite friends who invite their friends. At a maximum there were over 80 people in the house, and probably close to 200 people came through at some point or another. There was a jubilant atmosphere, lots of dancing, lots of laughs, some tears, but a very happy party, and a good indication for Laurène of the home she had built for herself.
Mixed in with all of this was a whole new set of emotions that came rushing in as our relationship was put into a completely different perspective. Although I had already grown very attached, and was beginning to consider alternatives to avoid leaving Laurène, I had nevertheless assumed that the relationship would go a little longer and then just end. I was trying to somewhat restrict how emotionally available I was to fit that model. All of the sudden, we were together indefinitely. All of the sudden there was no foreseeable reason for us to break up, ever. That shifted the way we related to each other into very different gears. But it was also a very new experience for me. I had never been in a relationship that didn't have an end date. I was ecstatic by the turn of events, that I found myself with this wonderful opportunity.
Before we knew it, February had arrived, and February 9th, not so early in the morning, we grabbed our backpacks and said goodbye, Laurène to the place she called home for two and a half years, and me to the city that had kept me longest, goodbye to the house that I stayed in for the longest since beginning my journey, to the place where I got the closest to a feeling of "settling". But that which bound me most, in the city and in the house, was coming with me.
We stuck out our thumbs, headed to Athens. Ahead of us were many adventures, laughs, learning moments, but also some challenges...
(that's suppose to be the cliff hanger)
I hope to release the next segment soon.
As always I hope you are well, and that our paths may cross sometime soon
The trip to Berlin was rather uneventful as far as trips go. I had successfully arranged a rideshare from Montpellier to Strasbourg and found a group of people to take the train with me on a special, very cheap ticket from Karlsruhe to Berlin. In the last minute I managed to find a rideshare to take me in the morning from Strasbourg to Karlsruhe so I didn't have to undergo the 30 km walk followed by an S-bahn ride which I had been considering. This did leave me without a place to sleep in Strasbourg, but luckily enough, after discovering that the train station was not open all night, one of the people who did the rideshare with me offered to let me sleep in her apartment. The train ride in Germany also presented a new experience. I had managed to find four other people via the rideshare website and we bought a group ticket that allowed us to ride on any regional train. To get from Karlsruhe to Berlin we needed to change trains four or five times and it took close to 12 hours. Coming out of Nuremberg, the train was so full that our group got split up and only after a lot of running and shoving were we able to meet back up. Finally I found myself in the main train station in Berlin, near a Christmas tree that was probably 10 meters tall, pacing around and waiting for Laurène to arrive. The entire trip I had been somewhat distracted and on edge, anxious to see her after almost ten days of being apart. And then came the wonderful moment when she walked down the stairs and we were together again.
The stay in Berlin forms a chain of one strange experience leading to the next. We managed to find a couchsurfing host that lived in a 7 person apartment owned by a sailing club which had offices and a bar directly below the apartment. We got put in someone's bedroom on a loft bed with two other couch surfers sleeping on the floor below us. During the day we just wandered around Berlin, taking in the city and occasionally trying to find a break from the cold and to give our tired legs a rest. Laurène's brother was also in Berlin so we spent some time with him and his friends, during which time I successfully made a good impression by falling asleep in a cafe and then eating a small plateful of butter. On a whim, we spent New Year's eve with friends of Laurène who also came from France to Berlin in order to celebrate. We counted down on the Warschauer bridge and spent a few hours at a club before walking many kms to sleep in the hostel with the friends who vacated a bed for us. One of my ears kept ringing for four days because of all the firecrackers. After four hours of sleep we were woken up at 9 in the morning and told we had to leave because there was suspicion the hostel owners knew we had spent the night. The city looked as if it has been under attack, the streets littered with trash from firecrackers, food, and drinks.
We had a hard time getting back into our couchsurfing house. We never actually saw our host again, and when we were finally let into the house in the evening, it turned out the the person whose room we were given had returned, so we found ourselves sleeping in the office of the sailing club until early in the morning when we begin the hitchhike journey home.
But for me, more than anything, the trip was about us, about Laurène and me. I surprised myself by how attached I had become, something I had only fully realized after having a moment away and feeling the joy and relief of being reunited. Wandering the streets of Berlin also gave us uninterrupted hours to just be together without the stress of work, friends, and other responsibilities. The trip was important and meaningful for me, to get me moving when I felt stuck, but more than anything it was important for us, it removed doubt and created a greater understanding of our bond and commitment to each other.
The Decision
Well before sunrise on January 2nd, we began our trip back to Montpellier, intended to be done only by hitchhiking. Despite the cold, it was easily among the best hitchhiking experiences I've ever had. Hitchhiking alone is lonely and I often find myself losing hope when things don't go well. A hitchhiking buddy is always great, and none is better than the person I most wanted to be with. Not to mention that Laurène is a very hardy and adaptable traveler. She enjoys whining about certain things, and can get hangry if she has absolutely nothing to eat, but I can think of no one else who handles cold, long hours, uncomfortable sleeping conditions, bad weather, mistakes, bad luck, and all the other misfortunes of travel, as well as she does. Aside from a 2 hour wait near Nuremberg, we were able to arrive at her friends' house in Stuttgart without too many problems, spent a pleasant night and morning there, and then continued on. It took us in total two and a half days to reach Montpellier, which is about 1500 kms away.
But aside from the fun adventurousness of hitchhiking, there was another important thing that happened during the three days between when we left Berlin and when we arrived in Montpellier. Laurène and I remember slightly different versions of this event, but I'll share mine because I think it's cute. Regardless of version, the result was that Laurène and I were to begin travelling together. My version goes as follows: Laurène and I were discussing different types of loving relationships: romantic, platonic, familial, etc. I made the comment that I think people's varied expectations are interesting, because if someone were to say that they are moving to a different city or country to live with a friend, most people would find that strange, but the same decision made for a partner is generally accepted as pretty normal. Then I gave the following example "when I talk to people in Montpellier and tell them that I'm dating someone they respond 'oh, so you're staying in France?' and when I say no they say 'oh, so Laurène is coming with you?' and I respond that I would love for her to come with me but that I'm not sure she wants to leave her job and her friends". The main disagreement Laurène and I have is whether I was clearly extending an invitation at that point or just telling a story. Regardless, after arriving in Montpellier, Laurène asked if I really want her to come travelling with me, and I answered of course. She spent the next day cleaning her room and thinking about it, and finally decided she would go travelling. She had always wanted to go off and travel, and this was the great opportunity come by to just do it. The moment when she said she wants to go travelling with me was and will probably remain the best moment mine three years journey.
Indefinite
The date of departure was soon set for February 9th, and the month passed in a whirlwind of preparations and emotions. I found myself faced with a mountain of work. I had done almost nothing during the first two months of the three months I had for my translation job, so I began spending most of each day at the library in order to try to concentrate and catch up. Aside from that I was trying to prepare a little for the journey. We were going to hitchhike close to 3000 kms in February through countries with cold winters where we don't speak the language. I spent many hours trying to get a better sense of what could and couldn't work and trying to arrange some places for us to sleep.
But all of my efforts were nothing compared to what Laurène was trying to get through. She was still working full time, had to deal with stress around leaving her job early and trying to discover what she might still be able to receive in benefits. She had a room in a house, a car, a cat, all sorts of belongings such as clothing, keyboard, guitar, etc. that had to find some place to move to. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with her friends before leaving. I spent much of my time and energy trying to be helpful in whatever practical way I could, and providing emotional support, as what she had to go through was not only time consuming but also emotionally draining. One of the better moments for both of us was the goodbye party we had. Only a few of my friends were able to show up (I didn't have all that many to begin with), and most arrived early and left early. But Laurène is a very social person and has many friends in Montpellier (and friends from farther away that came for the party). Plus she wanted many people there, so it was the type of party where friends invite friends who invite their friends. At a maximum there were over 80 people in the house, and probably close to 200 people came through at some point or another. There was a jubilant atmosphere, lots of dancing, lots of laughs, some tears, but a very happy party, and a good indication for Laurène of the home she had built for herself.
Mixed in with all of this was a whole new set of emotions that came rushing in as our relationship was put into a completely different perspective. Although I had already grown very attached, and was beginning to consider alternatives to avoid leaving Laurène, I had nevertheless assumed that the relationship would go a little longer and then just end. I was trying to somewhat restrict how emotionally available I was to fit that model. All of the sudden, we were together indefinitely. All of the sudden there was no foreseeable reason for us to break up, ever. That shifted the way we related to each other into very different gears. But it was also a very new experience for me. I had never been in a relationship that didn't have an end date. I was ecstatic by the turn of events, that I found myself with this wonderful opportunity.
Before we knew it, February had arrived, and February 9th, not so early in the morning, we grabbed our backpacks and said goodbye, Laurène to the place she called home for two and a half years, and me to the city that had kept me longest, goodbye to the house that I stayed in for the longest since beginning my journey, to the place where I got the closest to a feeling of "settling". But that which bound me most, in the city and in the house, was coming with me.
We stuck out our thumbs, headed to Athens. Ahead of us were many adventures, laughs, learning moments, but also some challenges...
(that's suppose to be the cliff hanger)
I hope to release the next segment soon.
As always I hope you are well, and that our paths may cross sometime soon
