Belfast to Frankfurt (trail is world wide)

When I first decided I was going to Europe Germany was no where near in the plan at all. But as it went, and as I got entrapped by Ireland and its magic, I didn't have enough time to go over to France/Spain to hike El Camino de Santiago. That's alright though, there's always next time. But let's see, how did it all play out? There was a point in Ireland where I decided it was time to (sadly) leave the country and I thought about the people I knew in Europe to go visit. Well you can put two and two together and I landed on Germany! So I spent my last couple dazs in Belfast chillen' with the amazing Claire and her boyfriend Filly. I was meaning to get up to the Giant's Causway but the rain and numerous reports of how underwhelming it was dissuaded (is that a word? German spellcheck says no, but I think yes) me from making that attempt. And since a plane was on the line I took a cheapish bus back down to Dublin from Belfast so I could fly off to Frankfurt :)

Next thing you know I'm on Aer Lingus flying to meet Mike and Jan. Mike and Jan are two German guys I met at the beginning of the Appalachian trail nearly two years ago now. Good ol' facebook has kept us in touch since then! Now I was supposed to meet Mike and Jan at a McDonalds at terminal two. But the McDonalds was closed for the first time in history apparently. Lucky enough while I was wandering and wondering about how to approach that they wandered up and found me! We took a nice stroll through the night to get back to Mike's place and promptly made some food 'cause we were all starving. 

The next day Mike took me on a tour of the city and we did all the touristy stuff. It was really quite fun and Frankfurt is a gorgeous city. I've really enjoyed the place ye know? 

Now that all the touring was done we could start to party haha. We went and met up with some of their friends that night, inculding a German girl who had just thru-hiked the Appalachain trail this past summer! There is just something about trail people that gets you all excited. And being around Mike, Jan, and now Sophie too?!?! It was just incredible and such a good time reminiscing about the good ol' days (the z and the y are swapped on this kezboard and it's throwing me off everztime). Mike showed me some typical German foods (lots of sausage) and it's amazing I must say. 

The next day I went with Mike and we helped his friend doing some remodeling work on his home. It was really fun actually, and other than that we've just been chillen' like it's our job. It's been so much fun to just hang out with trail people again. Mike and Jan are fantastic and I'm loving staying with them too, unfortunately that's really putting some perspective on how little time I have left here in Europe :(

But I'm enjoying the hell out of the time I do have here :)

Be happz,

Beacon 

Galway to Belfast

So I made it back to Galway. No surprise there I suppose. That place is like a giant magnet to travelers it seems. I've had a grand time there and it's sad to say that I've left it for the last time on this impromptu trip to Ireland. This Galway trip was spent quite similar to the last few. Spending time with Shauna and her family and friends. I feel like I've met her whole family now, like almost absolutely all of them. As well as her friends too haha. I must say they are all incredible. They are all so much fun and have been so hospitable to me it's ridiculous. So to any of ye Irish I've met out there, just know you're always welcome in Texas :)

I hung around Galway until the finale of Doctor Who was aired, then said my goodbyes, and caught a ride with Shauna's uncle Marc and his lovely wife to Dublin. I just gotta say that he has some of the COOLEST kids I have ever met in my entire life. It was great fun, and Marc and his wife are awesome too :)

Me being lazy nowadays (also with a flight looming over me in the near future) I decided to take a bus from Dublin to Newry instead of hitching (seeing as it was dark). I was going to stay with Paul, one of Shauna's friends I'd met a few times. And, funny enough, the bus I aas on picked Paul up too (Ireland is a small world). So we chatted all the way into Newry, got some incredible garlic cheese chips, and then went back to his to watch Archer in a new country, Northern Ireland!

Paul 

Had a great time with Paul, he's a laugh for sure. He sent me off after lunch the next day and I was thumbin' it to Belfast. It wasn't hard to get a life once I realized the motorway was actually just a dual carriage (can I spell?) way. Got a ride from Michael and talked politics of Northern Ireland the whole way. I was dropped right where I needed to be and wandered a bit before I got to meet the incredible Claire, one of Shauna's best friends. And it's not surprising in the least that they are best freinds, because they both live on a whole 'nother level of awesome. 

My first night in Belfast with Claire, Filly (her boyfriend), and all their friends was amazing in an incredibly nerdy way. We got Chinese take out, some beers, and then spent the whole night playing Settlers of Catan. I've loved this game ever since I first played it in Slovenia with Jake and Jess. And on top of all this, I'm in Europe! Which means I can get my favourite cider in the whole world...

I love it

Needless to say it was a fantastic first night! I spent the next day wandering around in the rain and going through the Titanic museum as Belfast is where it was made.

Titanic Mueseum

Good ol' Irish weather

That night I met up with the group again. We drank a few and then headed off to a pub quiz, something I've never done before. All I knew is we were supposed to answer questions. How it worked was there were 6 or so rounds. Each round had a theme and 8 questions. Every team would turn in their answers at the end of each round and they'd let us know the standings. We were actually doing pretty good as we started, steadily around 2nd or 3rd place. And we held that until about midway through the quiz. We'd been drinking steadily the whole time and then all of a sudden we were in the lead! Also, it made it funnier that our name was quite inappropriate and they would keep announcing it in the rankings over the loudspeaker. But we were winning! And we kept winning and eventually we won! This means we got a 24 pack of free beer (you could call it Budweiser, but free beer sounds much more appealing). And immediately, the 6 of us are off to drink our free beer at someones house :)

Free beer!

Doesn't get much better than that,

Be happy :)

Beacon 

 

Cork and back to Galway

Well, many a thing has gone down since the last post per usual. And I'll be doing my best to explain it all in a rational manner that y'all can understand despite how badly I always do at that. Hmmm, where to start? How about where I left Dingle without much of a plan.

I left my friends house in Dingle early in the morning (not really, it was like 10am) and started thumbing it towards Cork because I'd heard very pleasant things about the city. I was in the middle of nowhere it seemed, a very small town, but despite that a kind woman named Martha picked me up in about 5 minutes of me thumbin' it. She took me down a gorgeous coastal road to Inch where there was an incredible beach. I spent some time wandering it before I walked on out of the town with my thumb out. 

I was kind of worried I wouldn't get a ride on account of there being one car maybe every 5 minutes. This was a small town after all and I doubted anyone was heading far. I still got picked up by Anne and Leslie on their way to Dublin. This next little bit will explain to you how small a place I'm in. We were driving down the road and we see a young girl thumbin' it too. And she had some swagger with it ya' know? Well they pull over to get her and I'm thinking it's pretty cool I'm about to meet another hitcher, but turns out they just all know each other and she is a local headed over to her friends house. I found that oddly amusing and incredible. Seriously, I wish I lived in a world where everyone knew everyone and you could thumb it down a road knowing full well a friend'll come along to collect you! Then, while driving down the road with her, we see another guy walking down the road too. And they're all like 'there's Tom' and the debated whether to pick him up too or not. It was a small car though and already a little cramped so they just drove by laughing making comments like 'no worries, Tom's a walker' and somehow I found that just hilarious. I'm chuckling over it just writing this haha. The way they said it ya' know? So funny. They dropped me in a small town where I grabbed a breakfast role and a ride from Stewart who was an incredible guy. He took me through Killarney and showed me around a bit before driving me all the way into Cork where I would spend all day wandering and enjoying the life.

I arrived in Cork and was instantly struck by the beautiful parks they have uptown. It was awesome, in my travels I've really learned to appreciate a good park. I spent all day wandering around the town. I felt out some tinder girls and sent some couchsurfing request since I arrived early enough in the day for that. Nothing struck me as a hit so I didn't worry and expected to camp somewhere. I did town things all day and checked my wifi later that night to discover a couchsufer had accepted me!! This was quite exciting as I haven't couchsurfed since the last time I was in Europe two years ago. And Peter reminded me of why I used to love it so much. He was so nice to accept me on such short notice and he showed me a great time. It was fun to just chill with him and talk about traveling and all that. Because god do I love to talk about traveling with someone who is also passionate about it. It was a grand night altogether and the next morning I headed out of Cork. Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing cool city, but it wasn't speaking to me in terms of sticking around for a while.

I knew I needed to get back to Galway for a Marianna's birthday part so I decided to hitch in that direction for the day, that way I'd be closer for the morrow when I wanted to get in. But at a point someone took me so close to Galway it would've just been silly for me to not go in that night, plus I was kind of exhausted from the road. So I got a ride from two Polish guys all tatted up first, to get out of Cork, then Pat, Jon, Jarred, and another Polish guy. I spent a good two hours under a bridge singing to my Ipod when it was to wet out for me to bother hitching and it was good. I got into Galway quite early, ran into a girl I'd previously met and chatted before meeting two Americans and going out to dinner with them. Two fab girls, one from New York and one from New Jersey, both studying abroad in Galway and it was grand!

After that I met up with Shauna and had a nice night with her and her parents, though I was so exhausted and was no craic at all. I needed to save all my energy for the Birthday the next day anyways! So here's where the real story begins really. It's time for the birthday party! But to make it simple, because, per usual, I cannot relate to you the way this all went down, I will simply say it was a whirlwind of ecstatic fun bonding with family and friends in a whole knew cultural level and environment. Needless to say I loved it and Shauna's family is obviously incredibly sound. Seriously the best. I wish I could describe it better but have not the time. Maybe one day! Until then,

(not all of us) 

Be happy!

Beacon

Dingle

I woke in Limerick. I was in my tent in some not so stealthy spot, but all my time homeless must be making me complacent. I got a really early start, crawling out of my tent around 10am haha and walking towards out of town to a petrol station. 

I grabbed some coffee, asked the first girl I saw for a ride out of town and got my first ride of the day from  Brona (I won't even pretend I can spell Irish names). Who started my day out fantastically! So positive about everything and she took me on a small tour before dropping me off outside of town. William gave me the next ride and gave me a tour of his home town down the rode away where I got picked up by Brenden then Madigan. Next Anne collected me and gave me a tour of a ton of little towns as well as the ferry terminal and dropped me for Johnny. Soon some guy with a really Irish name got me, followed by Gerd, and finally Aye landing me in Dingle Ireland.

9 rides if I can count, a little less or more if I can't. I'd say the day was a success! I met up with a friend of a friend here in Dingle and if I could explain the connection we have together as people now it'd be grand, but I don't think I could. I'm staying at his tonight and it's been incredible this whole time. Seriously, if people only knew what this was like I think the world could change.

Now, I think, is the time to address this blog for the current adventure. If you haven't noticed my lackluster writing notice it now and take note! Take note that it is because I am living. I'm living my life, and I'm enjoying it greatly. Seriously though, I'm here to live my life, not to write it. Though I want to encourage people to pursue this lifestyle I don't want to drag on and on about myself amd writing seems to take away from the adventure to me. I'm not quite sure how to balance that out though... Maybe, in time, I'll write a book on it and this blog'll be an incredible reference. But until then its purpose is to motovate. It's purpose is to inspire. It's purpose is to be a beacon in the dark to those to wish for more ;).... And one day I'll care enough to write well about it all haha! 

Everyone be happy and come to Ireland,

Beacon Bell

Gorge

There is just too much to tell. Too much. I dunno how to do it. So much happens in such a short amount of time. I can't even begin to write it all and make it sound as good as it really is. But basically, Ireland is gorge. It's sound. It's incredible! I don't even really want to leave ye know? Okay. Where do I start. It seems like I blogged only a few days ago.... But maybe not? Lemme try to tell it to you all straight and rapid fire like with a lot'o'photos and exclamations. Will that work? I'm not sure, but I'm going to try :)

I hitched back to Galway from Bonduran and had a grand day chillen' about the town before I met up with Shauna and her friends. We were just going out for one drink really and then it turned into a giant ordeal of a party and I want to explain it all and where we went and what we did and how I don't even remember most of it, but it'd take ages so just know that it was amazing. 

One of the many photos that night

And the next day was spent sleeping in and doing nada to get ready for Halloween. That morning I got an email from Holland (Cato, the girl I met hitching) and it contained one of the sweetest messages I've ever read. She said: "Me and another guy from the hostel went up to the beach today with 3 surfboards and wetsuits to surprise you with a free surfing lesson... But we didn't see a tent" and that is like one of the cooler things anyone'd ever done for me but I'd left kind of early that morning :(... I wish so badly I could of caught some waves with you Cato!! Maybe in Spain ;)....

Anyways, this was Halloween. We were kind of skagged (is that how you use it?) and hung over from the night before so we didn't know what we'd do. Ended up I was Dorthy, Lorna was Mexican, Shauna was a pirate, and Chloe was a gypsy

Gorge

And we went out and had another night much like the night before. Met up with Darragh, Robin, and Mike in their castaway group costume and had a freakin' ball. Next day was spent much the same as the day before. Lying in bed watching the new season of Doctor Who, talk about dreams coming true!! It was incredible. Then another day later it was off to climb Croagh Patrick. A holy pilgrimage Saint Patrick did back in the day. We got rained and hailed on, but got a great view at the top regardless. 

Another incredible experience. Next day is today and I was off hitching, determined to make it to the cliffs. First ride was from a young and adorable 19. year old girl named Mason haha. She was a blast. Next up was Conner, then Dimphnah, and then Richy. Richy incredibly sound enough and took me by his house, fed me, made me tea, and we hung out and he offered to let me stay at his for a couple weeks and borrow his bike to ride around! Amazing guy, but I kept on for the day, maybe to return, and got a ride from McFlynn to the cliffs. Breathtaking is all I'll say.  

Then hitched with two other folk before Patrick and Melissa collected me and dropped me in Limerick where I'll most likely be tonight. Like I said, a lot is going down haha.

Be happy,

Beacon 

Random hitchings

The next few days of my Irish adventure were spent distracting Shauna from an essay she was working on for college. Also spent exploring the town of Galway that I do enjoy very much. The whole place is gorg and the people are friendly and happy. We'd done a lot around the town and it's been fantastic so far. 

Shauna

Graffiti done right

 Galway bay

I got to meet Shauna's mother and father and sibilings and uncle and they're all just as incredible. I've been having a good time going to laughing yoga with Nigel and just generally having fun, but still needed to do some sightseeing away from the town. So yesterday (really the day before, but I woke up too late to take action that day) I decided to try and hitch to the cliffs of Moher, these grand cliffs that people come to see. They sound awesome to me! Well I hiked outta the town center to start me hitching and was just starting to work it when a girl walks up holding a sign for Sligo. I didn't know where that was but we got to chatting and became friends. I threw my plans out the window and me and her teamed up for the day. She's from Holland and I can't pronounce her name let alone spell it. She's my kind of person though, ye know? The kind that school sucks the soul from. So we're both off traveling and livin' life instead of wasting out days away building up debt. And it was a blast. I was headed North now very unexpectedly and we got rides no problem. Two rides and we were nearly to the top of Ireland in this quaint little surfing spot. 

Bundoran

Surfers

We had a grand time there. Bondoran is a sound place, real quaint and quiet this time of year. We had a little adventure there and it was a blast. Went out for pints that night and had that freeflowing connection people only get when traveling.

Girl from Holland

I slept in my tent on the beach that night 'cause we all know I'm a hobo at heart and she, being a lil' classier, stayed at a hostel.

Good times stealthing

And then I hitched back to Galway in the morn'! Took six rides and not long at all. Gary the Vegan Surfer, an older guy, Pat, Fergison, Noel, Michael, and then the last guy who's name I couldn't say. It was a blast, never waited more than 15 minutes and had a blast. Now I'm back in Galway 'bout to meet Shauna and some of her mates for some pints and it's just all grand :)

Be happy y'all! 

Beacon Bell

Welcome to Ireland

I'm goin' to start this post off by apologizing to any Irish people reading this because I'm sure I'll be tryin' to look cool and all usin' some Irish slang, but who even knows if I'm using any of it properly? Other than that, here goes a story about my first few days in Ireland...

Well, it's more than that I suppose. In some ways this is a story about Ireland and how amazing it is. But it's not just that. It's about traveling and it's about meeting people in grand ways that you'll never forget. It's about hitchhiking in a country you've never been to and never really given much thought to either. It's about drinking and friends and gorgeous Irish accents. And honestly, a lot of this post is about Shauna, the girl who has convinced me to consider Ireland amongst the most incredible of countries because of how incredible friendly she has been :)

My first real day in Ireland was spent sleeping in my tent. I got there in the morning, jetlagged to death, and decided on a nice nap in my tent. Turns out I spent the whole day sleeping. I had no game plan. I knew nothing of this country whatsoever. I didn't really know anyone here either. So my friend introduced me to someone here via Facebook and I got the solid advice to go to Galway (pronounced Gulway by the Irish who keep correcting me). I decided to not go into Dublin at all in that case. Which ended up being the best decision. Since it was already late from my full day sleeping I went and camped in a field on the outside of Dublin near where I'd need to hitch out in the morning. I tried desperately to sleep and managed a bit, but couldn't keep it going do to the jet lag and spent the night staring at the Irish stars wondering how no one back home'd come adventurin' with me. Then I wandered off to a McDonalds in the wee hours of the mornin' where I met an incredibly nice young lad named James. With his good wishes I was off around 5am to start hitchin' because I had nothing better to do yet. I didn't really expect to get a ride due to it being pitch black outside. But as my luck had it I got picked up by a Nigerian cab driver on his way home from work free of charge. Nice fellow as he was took me a good bit and dropped me off back into the dark. I didn't want to try my luck twice without the sun up so I pitched my tent on the side of the motorway there and passed out for a couple hours. 

Got up to a nice chilly day with the sun poking through the clouds and got to thumbin' it. First ride came from Phillip and he was quite nice, not going far though. Dropped me at a fantastic spot where Andi collected me. Andi was so nice, works for Intel, but again, it wasn't a long ride. He dropped me at a slow exit, but I waited it out where Marius stopped for me in his lorry. Super nice guy as well and gave me some biscuits to eat. He dropped me at a nobody exit and I didn't hesitate to walk down to the motorway instead of staying on the onramp. Didn't take but 15 minutes before Oliver picked me up in another lorry. A true old Irish man with a accent so thick you could spread it on bread. Another short ride before Byron, the last ride of the day, picked me up. What an incredible fellow. A New Zealander who married an Irish gal and he wasn't shy in the least. We launched directly into talk of travel and all the places we've been. What a cool guy, loved meeting him and he was kind enough to take me a good many kilometers out of his way to drop me in downtown Galway, my destination.

Really it hadn't taken long to get over to Galway from Dublin. Maybe four or five hours, but the funny thing was, with Ireland being such a small country and all, everyone who picked me up thought I was going ridiculously far because it was clear across the country. And I guess I did go East to West coast in that hitching, but it was really no big deal at all. Same thing with Galway too, it is an incredibly small town so I feel like nearly everything is walking distance from me. I had no plans once I got to Galway either. All I'd heard was that it's a cool place and I decided to check it out. I wandered around a bit, decided to maybe stay in a hostel to meet some traveling folk ye know? As luck turns out all the hostels were full up so that plan went out the window pretty quick. Camping is always plan B, but I have some other creative ways to find places to stay. My new and favourite way to do this is Tinder. If ye don't know what Tinder is, well it's not quite supposed to be used how I use it. To be honest it's a hookup app. But I use it for hitching and finding stays nowadays. Anyways, I posted up at this one hostel and made good friends with Maeve while bumming some internet and hitting the Galway Tinder scene. I got a few matches, but nothing really seemed that promising. I was about to give up and go do some wanderin' before finding a place to camp when Shauna and I started talking. I could tell right off the bat she was sound. Incredibly sound. She was just super nice and a little motherly not wanting me to stay in my tent and all. We arranged to meet up for a pint where I had my first Guinness in Ireland (it was actually really good). She introduced me to some of her friends and then took  me over to her brother's place where I got to meet the whole crew it seemed. Darragh, her brother, Marianna, Nigel, Mike, and Rob. And every single one of then was incredibly fun and welcoming as could be! So we all drank for most of the night before all of them went of to a gig. It was a great time and then they all came back and played guitar and sung songs until the waaaaay wee hours of the mornin' and it was incredible. Darragh let me stay at his for the night and we all slept in the next day, except for Shauna who had to go to college (sorry Shauna for all my distractedness). 

The rest of us and I spent the morning sleeping and then made out way to McDonalds for hangover food. It was fantastic, before we all slowly drifted down to the cathedral to see the parade that was on! 

Parade'n'such :)

More has happened as that was all three days ago and I'm still with Shauna now, but I don't have the effort required to type it out now. There was just something about the whole night that was incredibly free spirited ye know? I came to Ireland with no plans. Went to Galway on a whim. Managed to meet the incredible Shauna and have one of the better nights of my life. I was already convinced of how awesome Ireland was and I was stoked more than ever to be here. It was a great introduction to Irish partying, drinking, and culture I think haha. But more than all that it was just good fun. Shauna is such a chill and awesome girl. Glad I met her here in Ireland and she was kind enough to take me in so far. Anyways, I'll add pictures to this post later and I'll continue the rest of the story when I have some free time. All I can say is you should visit Ireland :)

Bí sásta,

Beacon Bell