The Timeline: May-Mid June, 2010 (60-70 days)
The Main Objective: Hike roughly 800 kilometers across Ireland!
Secondary and Tertiary Objectives: See the sites along the way and mingle with the locals while gaining an intimate appreciation for the country.
I’ve done a fair bit of traveling in my day, but never like this. What I’ve always enjoyed has been the friendly nature of people who want you as a visitor to enjoy their part of the world. Not regrettably, whenever I’ve traveled, the main purpose was to party with various people from all over the globe, always negating the sites and the history. Backpacking from village to village, county to county, and city to city, will give me the best of both experiences though.
However, a journey like this is one I would much rather embark upon with some one else. I’ve traveled alone most of my life due to financial restraints of friends, which is why I have posted on this site (as well as many others). The most difficult part of a trip like this, is finding a travel partner who you can tolerate and who can tolerate you for the duration, and although the good times are good, the hard times might be quite difficult.
I’ve always enjoyed my own company, and I’ve had a few friends in my life who have complimented my personality; I think if I found some one much like myself, I would enjoy this trip all the more. However, as I’m quite a unique character in many respects, this may prove difficult.
But if you’re still reading, you may very well be that person!
What I’m looking for and a bit about myself: (this is where it starts to look like an ad on a dating site, lol)
Firstly, and probably most importantly, this trip is going to require a lot of endurance, both mentally, and physically. We’ll be averaging 20-30 kilometers a day, 100 per week, in order to cross Ireland in 8 weeks, to leave us enough time to ferry over to Wales and Scotland, to party in their capitals, and see a few things, and then jet on over to the Netherlands to party in their capitals as well (I know I should do more trips so that I can really enjoy those other places, but I’ve been to Wales twice, Amsterdam once, and at the age of 27, I don’t see myself being able to enjoy those other countries as a single man for much longer). We’re talking probably 30-40 pounds of gear/clothing/essentials as we pound from place to place, late nights with the locals, early mornings to view tourist attractions, or closely guarded local secrets, followed by 5 hours of hiking every afternoon.
Secondly, money. Although there will be times for convenience (when distance between two places is too great, or due to lack of inns or hostels) that we sleep in a ditch, for a trip this long, money is going to be spent. The flights, the trains, the ferries, the hostels, inns, hotels, food, daily pints/Whiskey, tourist attractions, pubs, nightclubs, shopping, incidentals; the budget I put together for myself brings the estimated total to a whopping $20,000 Canadian (do the conversion on an exchange website if you wish). But for a once in a lifetime trip, it’s worth it.
Thirdly, my partner must be a conversationalist. This is going to be a LOOOOONNGG @$$ trip, so if we have nothing to talk about, we are done from the beginning. My interests include but are certainly not limited to (because I can talk about nearly everything) fitness, weightlifting, running, cross country skiing, snowboarding, being active, video games, paintball, target shooting, traveling, shopping, movies, music, books, and above all else… WOMEN. I love them, I love talking to them, I love spending time with them, partying with them, I love chasing them, and I love catching them. This being said, there will be a lot of that going on during this trip, I should think. I plan on hitting local pubs along the way, and local nightclubs on weekends when we rest up in the larger city centers. Not only must you accept this, and not judge this behavior, you must also engage in it, and be affluent at it! I’m currently 27, and am fairly well practiced, and have enjoyed myself in many parts of the world in this pursuit, and my travel mate had better be somewhat skillful in this area as to not be a hindrance or handi-cap, or worst of all, a mood killer (if you’ve just read this and have thought ‘oh man.. this trip sounds good, but I’m awful with ladies, well… you can keep reading, perhaps in the end out of lack of interested travelers, I’ll need to take you if you fit all the other criteria, and we can work on your ‘game’ along the way, it will be of the greatest lessons in life you learn, hehe). This being said, you should probably be respectably handsome. Being fit, you’ll probably be in the ballpark already. If this sounds shallow, I hold myself to the highest standard, and also, I wouldn’t believe on inflicting my hypothetically unattractive self on attractive women. You’ve got to give to get is what I say on that matter. As far as ability in this art goes, I’d compare myself to James Bond with only 7 years of practice as opposed to 20, lol.. Slightly sophisticated, stylish, charming, charismatic, narcissistic, cool-headed, confident, and fun.
NOTE: From reading the above it should have become blatantly obvious that I want a male travel partner whose gender preference is solely for women. I have no problem with homosexuals, I have gay friends, and I’m not insecure, I’ve had plenty of chances to get with guys, and due to lack of interest or arousal, I have not, and will not. I simply know that firstly, for a gay guy to pursue women as my wing-man would be to live a lie, and to be a bisexual guy would serve only to aggravate them at the eventual episode where they have grown attracted to me, and their advances are rejected, leaving hurt feelings, and me most likely without a travel partner midway through my journey to avoid any further awkward advances.
I’ve been told that to avoid awkwardness and offense of others, to never talk about race, religion, sex, or politics… Well, without them, what a boring world we would be in. So hopefully we gel in this area. I believe in freedoms and rights of the individual as long as they do not directly harm others, I believe in peace which unfortunately often requires war, I served in the military as an infantryman for 5 years, enjoyed it, and support those who have and are doing it, so if you have a hate on for ‘baby-killers’, read no further. I too dislike the mistreatment of persons by military, and most PROFESSIONAL soldiers do not act in such a way. If you believe the best way to bring peace is to expunge the world of all weapons, you can take the hippy boat to the Bermuda triangle for all I care because such a concept is unrealistic and ignorant. Just as abhorring and ignorant to me as racism. Although I respect the choices of vegans (because such a life is a FREEDOM), I don’t practice it, and I don’t want to be judged during my whole trip for the meat I’m eating, the cows I’m keeping in bondage due to my milk drinking, etcetera. I’ve seen cows in action while herding, they are sub-life forms whose sole purpose is for food and leather.
Fourthly… well, I think that’s really it. I’d say intelligent, but if you’re still reading, you probably are. Oh wait, age. Anywhere from a mature, and astute 19, to a youthful and fun 28. I’ll be 28 by the time this trip takes place. I don’t want to be the old guys at the hostel creeping out the young girls, so it’d actually be great to have a travel mate who was 24’ish to bridge the gap, BUT being fit, and having style helps. Yes, that’s right, not only must you be able to pull off hiker’s apparel, but when we hit the clubs (and maybe even the pubs), you’d better be able to wear the clothes that will get you past the doorman and through the door, and not deter women from talking to you. If this is something you need to work on, you’ve got some time, and hopefully a few dollars to start reading Gentleman’s Quarterly (more popularly referred to as ‘GQ’). I’m also bringing my handheld compact digital camcorder, and am up in the air of whether or not to attempt making a film worthy documentary in the end. If you don’t like the idea, I won’t, if you do, you can help encourage me, hahaha!
As far as my sense of humor goes, sure sometimes I can be off-colour, bordering offensive (sometimes I cross the line for certain audiences), but if you enjoy the shocking humor of Dave Chappelle, Kids in the Hall, or Family Guy, we’ll get along famously! As far as musical tastes go, it’s Fall ’08 and I am listening mostly to Kaskade, MSTRKRFT, N.E.R.D., Flight of the Conchords, Esthero, and I still occasionally pop in Radiohead. But my tastes are very broad (excluding metal and post-90’s punk)
Although I prefer to have only one travel partner (“Three is a company, 4 is a crowd†is somewhat true, however group dynamics dictates that a ‘third’ is often ostracized), I am going to collaborate with as many people as interested due to the likelihood that some may drop out before the trip starts for a variety of reasons, namely money, and time. If I went on the trip with 3 others, broken down into teams of two who join up at every stop, that would also be ideal. Over MSN, we’ll have a good deal of time to get to know one another, and perhaps even a trial visit or trip somewhere could be arranged, but that can be determined later. Oh… if a huge portion of your life is dedicated to talking about car engines and after-market add-on’s for your civic.. or if done something disgusting like deface a BMW with “gull-wing†doors… don’t even bother messaging me. Although I drive a BMW 328x1 2007, love it, and can drive it for all it’s worth…. I have never been interested in talking specifications, and become bored of it quickly.
If you’ve read all this, agree with it all, like what you see, definitely contact me. I do not believe you will regret this!
(numerous pics of me because I believe to see some one can give you even more idea as to who they are)
