Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Prineville Not Nashville and Romania Not RIO (at least not yet Brazil & Tennessee)


I just spent the summer in Southeast Asia. What am I gonna do now? I am not going to Disneyland.

Alright, summer is over! I'm still on the move and life is still showing me who's boss! As usual I've a ton of ideas about what I might do and where I may head off to. Somehow though, I wonder if this is really up to me or if it's part of some plan that's bigger than me? 

Anyway, I was contemplating a trip to Nashville upon my return from Asia. I thought a little southern hospitality from my home country was in order. Also, I was invited further south to Rio De Janeiro. Pretty awesome right? I think so. Well, my itinerary as of now includes neither destination. So, what the heck happened? It's simple really. I can only do so much at one time, "life happens when you're making other plans" and I change my mind often. I'll explain...

While I was in Asia I was considering my options. I had initially planned on more travel throughout Asia but decided Thailand and Malaysia was just right for this trip and a change of pace was in order. Thinking carefully about my budget and what I was in the mood for Nashville came to mind. Okay, I'd fly back into Portland from Kuala Lumpur and take Amtrak to Tennessee. I love riding the train! I would get my southern hospitality fix and I could even head on over to Memphis while I was at it to see all the memorabilia of the King. A rather cool trip in my opinion and certainly in the budget. Oh but wait, I still have Brazil to consider! First of all, I have had South America on my list of places to go for a long time; with Rio being at the top of the list of cities there that I would like to survey. Apart from that, I had an invite which included a place to stay! What to do? This is the part when "life happens when you're making other plans", comes into play. After I got back to the states I wanted to unwind and see some friends. The next thing I know I'm attending a wedding and I hook up with a friend that I haven't seen in around 20 years. She lives in Prineville and came up to Portland just for the wedding. We seemed to have fun together so I decided I wanted to hang out with her more. In comes Prineville. I have not visited Central Oregon much, (if at all) so, I thought it would be a bonus checking it out on top of spending more time with my friend. I was right. I had a wonderful time visiting with her and I really liked visiting the small town life in Prineville. I decided the charm I was craving from a trip like Tennessee was satisfied by this unexpected reunion and unplanned side trip. (Check out pictures of the town and our side-side trip to Reno by clicking HERE). 

What about Rio? This is where changing my mind often comes into play. As much as I still want to go to Brazil and many other countries in South America for that matter; I just felt like a return to Europe lately. Hopefully, I'll be able to take my other friend up on her invite to Rio an other time. As for now...

Romania has come up in conversation a couple of times. Perhaps it was a sign? Besides, I have loved Europe since my first visit back in 1985. In '04 I went back and made my way around to about a dozen countries mostly in the west. I have yet to make my way to that many countries in the east. So, after milling it over I decided Bucharest here I come! My flight is booked for 10.15.12. Lets see what happens from here...

2 comments:

  1. You should still Czeck out Tennessee Mike. I like it better than Prineville. ;) It's really nice down there. There's a life-sized replica of the Greek Parthenon with a statue of Athena that's the largest indoor statue in the Western world. Wild stuff man! Have a safe journey, friend!

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  2. I'm sure I'll make it there one day. It's still on my list!

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