Preparing to Leave Budapest

Home is such an abstract word.  Ask anyone where "home" is, and you'll get a variety of answers; some people find home on the rode, some people find it where they were born, others where they have spent the majority of their life, where their parents live, where their spouse is, and so on...  While travelling and daily uttering the question: "Where are you from?", I have come to realize that a better question is "Where are you headed?"

But for me, it took travelling clear across the ocean to realize where home is... and its where I came from.  It's those streets I can navigate so well, its the sparkle in my moms eyes, its my dads smile, its Stella's hair all over our sofa.  Home is my sisters laugh, my friend Rachel's wit, my Grandma's stories while I do her hair.  For me, home is where I came from.  And I NEVER would have guessed how much I would miss it.

I have decided to make this entry a little different.  After three weeks of having a semi-permanent dwelling at Zen Hostel, and before we head on that open road again, I would like to tell you what I have learned, thought about, and realized while having time to ponder.  And I will follow up with pictures of some stuff we have done while here:


1- I don't like ladders.  We went caving yesterday and the worst part of the experience was entering and leaving the cave... it was a ladder going approximately 20 meters down a dark hole.... hell no. Not cute.

2- Grandma's don't lie, knitting is neat! That's right, I learned to knit while in Budapest.  I already knit a very large scarf, or by Matthew's standard, it is more of a blanket-kind-of-scarf-thing.  And now I am working on a hat!


3-  CHICKENS (are neat)! We have decided that when we get home, we would like raise a few hens in our backyard... This way, we will have fresh organic eggs and some cute pets! We're planning to convert the Stella House into the Stella farm!

 

4-  FISH (are neat)! Beyond hens, we plan on doing some aquaponics (keeping a fish tank with a garden growing above it.. Dad, we need your expertise here). Also we are going to turn our living room into grow room to sprout seeds, grow herbs, and keep vegetable plants (prepare yourselves roomies).  And most exciting, we will be keeping a vermi-compost bin (over 1000 worms in a bin) to eat our left overs and produce fertile soil.  We are going to have a full circle of life in our home: Grow plants, eat plants, feed scraps to worms, make soil, grow plants, eat plants, etc.

5- Home is where the heart is. Family is SO IMPORTANT.  I miss my family so much.  I vow that I am going to spend as much time with them as possible.  I appreciate them more than I can put into words.

6- Sniffles, migraines and coughs... oh my! Going from a beach city to cold central Europe is an abrupt weather change.  I have had an on-again-off-again cold for about three weeks and it is like a damn wave, it gets better and worse as it pleases.


7-  STUFF (is not-so-neat)! For me, the more "stuff" I have, the more I'm a prisoner to it.... "Buy a car to drive to work. Drive to work to pay for the car."  Just yesterday before our caving adventure, we met a mother who works only 15 hours a week when she is back home, and has saved to travel the world with her 11-year-old daughter for an entire year. They are doing Europe, Turkey, South America, etc.  Talk about the best home schooling!  Even more unconventional/amazing, this dynamic duo is "couchsurfing", so everywhere they go, they get to meet locals, learn the cuisine, live in their environment... Most importantly, the daughter is learning that it's possible to make honest and life-changing connections with people, no matter their race, region, religion, etc..  She explained that traveling is a necessary part of their lives and she's willing to cut out other aspects of her life to make room for it. They live without a car, fancy televisions, fine dining, and so on, but as a result, they get to explore the world.  Meeting these two was incredibly serendipitous. Matthew and I have been reading multiple books on a self-sustaining lifestyle (you know, the chickens, the plants that live off of fish feces, the worms that poop out our nutritious soil, all that strange stuff) and her determination to minimize spending on superfluous expenses has definitely inspired our journey to become minimalists...  Happiness is different for everyone, but for me, happiness is having the free time for hobbies, and travel, and loved ones! (By the way, here is a link to her daughter's travel blog, which is part of English/Language Arts homeschooling curriculum: rileybella: My year trip)

Okay, that is probably enough for now.  ;)  But stay tuned as we travel outside of Europe to more culturally unique places.  I can't believe we are only half way through this trip.  I am curious to see how I will have changed, and it will be impossible to tell until I am thrown back into the environment I come from.