Songs for the Road

Today I got some camp songs stuck in my head, and I realized that I've been wanting to learn the "Road goes on and on" that they sing in The Fellowship of the Ring. So I went in search of it, and found many versions along the way. Apparently "The Road Goes Ever On and On" is a poem that Tolkien wrote, but didn't include in LOTR. It's been turned into a very sad, dramatic song for LOTR the musical, but I still like it the way Bilbo sings it in the movie, joyfully and like a real walking song. @elisezoot, we have a song to arrange and learn so we never get bored along or around or under the rocky road to Dublin.

Skip to the last 30 seconds of this to hear Bilbo sing it!

Words taken from The Hobbit, and different parts of LOTR

 

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known.

 

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

 

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

 

 

The Packing List

I've been kind of ridiculous lately with my trip planning. But as today is the 8 month marker until graduation, I gave myself a little break from studying and really delved into planning. What did I do you ask? I made a packing list. Yes, I know it's early. But I am nothing if not prepared. This list I've made has more items than I really want to attempt to stuff into Don Quixote (my backpacking backpack), which is what I'll be using while traveling. But on the other hand I have to live for 9 months, beginning in the summer, and ending in March, in a town that will be hovering around 0 degrees Celsius for three of the eight months I will be there. My hope is to send things home with my parents when they visit in September and after Christmas, and to ship the things I've accumulated back home in the days before I leave my host family and venture out with only a visa and rail pass to direct me.

Being a woman, it seems like I've put far too much thought into my clothing in terms of fashion. While 2 (maybe 3) bottoms and 3 tops, and one dress seems excessive in terms of weight, I'm actually a little worried about only having 7 outfit options for three months.

If you care to judge my list, suggest items I've forgotten, or listed that are unnecessary then please leave me a note in the comments! (items with a "*" before hand are only coming to Germany, not all around Europe)

Clothes:

long skirt
running tights
cow neck sweater
blue blouse
2 under shirts
layerable dress (black polka dot) 
warm/waterproof jacket
extra warmth layer
3 pairs underthings
4 pairs socks
hiking boots
paddock boots/walking shoes/dress shoes
hat
gloves
scarf

Additional Clothes:

*pencil skirt
*chacos
*cardigan (grey, adaptive)
*light rain coat
*extra socks
*extra underthings
*sleeping clothes
sundress
*burgundy pants
jeans
*running shorts
*3 tshirts/extra shirts

Personal Items:

camera
computer
iPod
passport
visa
wallet (credit cards, spending money, driver's license, etc.)
phone (European and American)
chargers for electronic items
adapter for chargers
bathroom items (toothbrush, -toothpaste, -sunscreen, mascara, coverup, -soap, hair ties, head bands, hair brush, -wash cloth)
day pack

Survival Items:

2 water bottles (-1 water bottle, 1 travel mug)
-sleeping bag
compass
map
-emergency blanket
-snack foods (energy bars, dried fruit, chocolate)
-flashlight

Additional Items:

*-reading materials
postcards with contact information (for giving out)
-mace


*=coming to Germany but not Ireland
-=buying it in Europe as needed
"Additional" clothes and items may not make it onto the final packing list

The Sillyness!

Shortly after writing that last post I realized how silly I was to be looking a wool coats and sweaters and scarfs and socks when I'm going to IRELAND. Perhaps this should pacify me in my shopping fervor. Perhaps not.

Boots!

I'm getting that boot envy, or really clothes envy that comes at the beginning of every school year when I let my parents believe that I really don't need any more clothes and then get to school and realize oh shit, yeah I do.

Need of course is a relative term, used here to say that I get too many fashion magazines from my delta sky miles which convince me an over flowing closet is a healthy one. Being someone with three drawers and maybe 50 hangers worth of clothes I have more than I strictly speaking need. But I want them you know.

The pattern always starts with the practical things. When moving to a village in Germany with an average temperature of freezing for three months of the year one must acquire suitable warm clothing that is easy to pack and wash and still makes you presentable. Enter Under Armor.

But skin tight athletic ColdGear is not really the most fashionable thing to wear. I've got a few dresses to class up the leggings, but really I need some accessories to me from turning into that-crazy-girl-who-has-two-layers-of-skin-that-are-different-colors in my village. Enter Modcloth.

And then, predictably, things get out of hand. First there's nordstrom scanning, and then looking at anthropologie and in a manner of minutes I'm drooling over $300 boots. I suppose if I don't want to actually move to Europe I could just spend the money I've saved on clothing I'd be scared to wear for fear of ruining it.

 

$2500 later I'd have an awesome new wardrobe, but zero prospects for directly after college...

Any Recommendation?

Hello World,

It seems that I am moving to Europe. I'm one lawyer and four signatures away from signing a contract with a family and moving to the Old World for 9 months after graduation! And while this is exactly the opportunity I was looking for, the possibilities are blowing my mind. I thought it would take me a decade to get to Europe again, and even then it would be on vacation, but now I get to live there and work and travel and make European friends that I'll keep for a life time!

I've started looking at the cost of travel, but I need to know where to go and when! I'm thinking Fez for a week at some point, but other than that I'm at a loss. Any favorite sites, restaurants, concert venues, walks/hikes or weekend spots in Europe and northern Africa I need to see? PLEASE, leave me a comment so I can check them out!

The gate to Fez

This Scheisse Is Getting Real

While I still haven't made up my mind about what family I'm going to adopt on my way to backpacking around Ireland, I'm definitely tripping down the road. I've been offered a position with a pretty fantastic German family, and I'm just waiting it out now until I'm sure I can't find an Irish family I mesh with as well. And while that's pretty cool and all, it's also making all of my decisions real. The decision to postpone grad school for a year, the decision to graduate with a double major, the decision to write a thesis, the decision to follow every college cliche and escape to Europe post expensive higher education escapades. It can easily become overwhelming when I think of all the decisions I make by signing a simple au pair contract.

Ireland or Germany, it's nine months living in Europe. Hopefully dreams and planning can help me make up my mind.

Gute Nacht!
Ellbow