As I get closer and closer to my great excursion many questions go through my mind.  Along with obvious thoughts about the people I will meet along the way and all sights, sounds, and tastes I will experience, I wonder how I will be recieved.  I’ve heard a myriad of different perspectives from many different places.  Some think I’ll be a target of racism, anti-americanism (is that a word, lol), and/or possibly terrorism.  Needless to say those are perspectives owned by those who are worried about the prospect of traveling alone to a strange place.  Others say I will be recieved as a hot commodity and in some places a rare Black American face.  That women will treat me as a celebrity and chase me around as if I was the second coming of 2pac.  LOL.  I can’t really say I believe that, but who knows, it would fulfill one of my many fantasies.  The questions that wander aimlessly throughout my own mind though are:

• What are the foreign relations like between a Black American (African-American) like me and the people of Europe now that America will have it’s first Black President in Barack Obama?
• How easy will it be to meet people and possibly develop a long lasting friendship with them?
• Will I be able to get by with English and my very limited vocabulary of Spanish and French? (this one is really eating at me as the need for communication on this trip is paramount)
• Although I’m sure you will find racism everywhere you go, how does it compare to the amount of racism in America?

I guess the only way to get the answers to these questions from my perspective is to go get them.  We shall see.

As I was doing my research for different resources to help me on my trip I came across a very interesting website. It’s called The Man In Seat Sixty-One This website was put together by a guy just like me who decided to share his passion for traveling by train through Europe. For instance, there is a section of the website where he details how to travel from London to Australia using nothing but the train and ferry! A lot of people nowadays have forgotten that one of the best things about traveling is the trip itself. Getting to see the scenery, traveling over lands once traveled by others. Seeing the earth how it connects to the trees as they touch the sky. Check out the website when you get a chance.

Here are some travel quotes that I found pretty interesting about travel.  They are definitely useful for those of you who want to travel but don’t quite have the confidence yet.  I say be like Nike and “Just Do It”!

“It was then that the idea of visiting Lhasa really became implanted in my mind. Before the frontier post to which I had been escorted I took an oath that in spite of all obstacles I would reach Lhasa and show what the will of a woman could achieve. But I did not think only of avenging my own defeats. I wanted the right to exhort others to pull down the barriers which surround, in the center of Asia, a vast area extending approximately 79 to 99 degrees longitude.”

Alexandra David-Neel, France, My Journey to Lhasa, 1927

“Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.”

John Muir, USA and Scotland, The Mountains of California, 1894

“Man must have just enough faith in himself to have adventures, and just enough doubt to enjoy them.”

G.K. Chesterton, England