60 in 60

Earlier today I received a note from my potential new boss. He was asking when I will be back in the Philippines so he could discuss the next step in my job application. Suddenly from the stratospheric heights of my euphoria I was plunged to the grounds of reality.

Oh yes. I am just living this 40-day dream. But after this once-in-a-lifetime journey I would be facing reality. I would be nearly broke and I need to have a job soon.

So with that grim reminder of inevitability I brought to mind my attempt to achieve 60 things to be done in 60 days. The 60 days of gap between my jobs. I have not actually completed the list and it's actually a work in progress but anyways here's the list so far...

60 in 60

1.     Plant a Rose

2.     Learn how to cook a native dish - DONE (Adobo!!!)

3.     Learn how to solve 3^rd layer of Rubik’s Cube.. DONE (Missing step was Ri F Ri B B R Fi Ri B B R R Ui)

4.     Perform HDR photography

5.     Take photo of the Milky Way

6.     Have a reunion with former officemates

7.     Watch a play - DONE

8.     Send a postcard - DONE

9.     Observe the transit of Venus - DONE

10. Visit a new city - DONE  (Tallinn, Oslo, Budapest, Prague, Riga...need I say more ?)

11. Go to the gym - In progress

12. Update a blog - In progress

13. Road trip - DONE 

14. Send home Spark, my dog  - DONE

15. Generate 1000 profile views in CS - In progress

16. Get hosted - DONE ( Got hosted in Salzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Tallinn)

17. Bury the hatchet - DONE (made amends with a good old friend)

18. Reconnect with an old friend

19. Update wardrobe

20. Spend a day without PC and CP  - DONE

21. Spend a day doing nothing

22. Post 20 blog entries

23. Back up files

24. Activate Six Sigma blog

25. Get a compilation of Photo templates

26. Host a free hugs event - DONE ( Hosted a free hugs event in Tallinn Estonia)

27. Join a pub crawl - DONE
28. Experience God
29. Skinny dip in a lake, river or sea - DONE (swam in my birthday suit in Danube River)
30. Read a novel (any of the following would count - Perks of a Wallflower, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fountainhead, On the Road)
31. Watch a season of "Breaking Bad"

Still thinking of 29 other items...

Carpe Diem

I am a terrible blogger. I tend to procrastinate a lot. I am now in my 30th day of my journey and I have barely updated this blogspot. In my defense it is quite an arduous task to tour a new city, covering every possible site within the limited time, take pictures, edit, upload, make new friends, look for hosts, book tickets for next destination etc...

However in the remaining quarter of my 40-day journey I promise to unload my thoughts here while they are still fresh.

Everything had been a blast so far.

I wish it could go on like this but as in everything, all good things must come to an end. I guess this journey is in every bit like life. We enjoy, we party around, relish new friends and connections, revel in new discoveries but sooner or later it will end. I guess in a way I am sad.

But no matter what I always make it a point to remind myself to live in the present.

Carpe Diem !

Day 21 - Prague

I had a great time on my second day in Prague. I went to the weekly CS gathering where they have Karaoke. Even thoughI don't have a good voice, after downing a few beers I gathered to courage to sing onstage and belt "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi.

"It's my life ! It's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever. I just wanna live while I'm alive"

I think it's an apt song for my journey.

Day 5 - Hamburg

This photo was taken on Day 5 of my journey. We were on our way to Hannover where I will be catching the bus to Mannheim.

I love the feeling of taking the train. Somehow it makes me contemplative.

A few weeks back I felt that my life was in doldrums. But now I have a feeling that things are just going to be fine. I still have a lot of questions. And I frankly I am accepting the fact that some might never be answered at all. But I guess one would just have to keep on moving.

Day 2 - Paris

On my 2nd day in Paris I passed by the CS activity "Picnic du Jour", a daily Picnic activity hosted by Rodney. Too bad I was set to leave for Bremen that evening so I had to leave early. I guess I missed the rest of the CS folks. I hope to meet them when I pass by Paris in July.

Day 1 - Paris

Do you know where're going to ?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?

This song was playing on my mind as I was taking the metro in Paris. It felt surreal. Yesterday I was just dodging the jeepneys in the busy highways of Manila and right now I am smack in a city that speaks a foreign language.

This is what I love about traveling. It reminds you that No, you were never the center of the universe. Out here if you ask a random person on the train, he would never have any idea of your hometown. It's as if your home, the whole place you've known as your universe while you were growing up, the people you've come to know, never existed. It's kinda scary if you think of it.

I have this crazy habit of analyzing people boarding the train and imagining the thoughts running through their minds. What were they thinking? Some might be thinking of what train connection to take. Some might wonder when he's going to have the balls to quit his job. Another might just be pondering on what Starbucks variant to order this time.

Or if someone is in his more profound moments, he'd probably be thinking like what I'm thinking right now, what is effing point in all of this?

So many questions. I guess I will have just to keep on asking for now.

Lost and Found

I know I have posted this picture before but I am reposting it again because I find it rather timely. I first saw this sign when I was in Vienna last year and ever since I was haunted by it.

Right now I am heeding the signs. I have quit my job and am taking this European backpacking adventure. I am at a loss right now because the reason why I quit my job was rather devastating. It's like I'm picking up the pieces of my broken self.

I must admit that I am lost right now. It's scary because I don't have any assurance that I will have a job waiting for me back home.

But hopefully after emptying my purse (almost) and starting a new life, I will soon find myself.

Sometimes one has to get lost in order to be found.

The journey begins...