Surprise Travel
There is nothing quite as sweet
Because the world is so uncertain (and so is my income as a self-employed person), I have been treating each trip I take as though it could be my last (for a very long time). This makes me breathe it in and appreciate every moment even more than I usually do. What if this were my last trip off the continent? What memories would I want to bring back? What mementos?
Why am I bringing this up? Because it seems my travel plans with my travel buddy for the fall are back on. Except, it's now two weeks in Istanbul, Turkey.
No, I can't afford it, but I also can't afford not to. My soul needs it. And taking it before the election means that even if something goes completely haywire with the world as a result, my wanderlust will be satisfied for a while.
Then I can worry about paying it off.
This will be the most “exotic” place I've ever been. One of the airline legs will be 10 hours long. Speaking of legs, mine will be cramping in the cheap seats, but I hope the compression socks will save me. How my hips will survive, I don't know.
Once we land, my legs will not stop moving for two weeks, and it's hilly terrain, so I'll be building new muscles (and stopping frequently for Turkish coffee).
There's no one I'd rather go on this adventure with than Lisa. After renting a car in Mexico together and also driving to Vermont (in a car that had no power steering for two days) with my cat, I'm confident we can handle anything together!
There are lots of things I've been investigating to make the trip smoother. For instance, like Mexico, there will be places in Istanbul where the T.P. does not go into the toilet. Their infrastructure is old and prone to clogging. On a related note, opinions vary on whether the tap water will send your intestines into a tail spin (no pun intended). To counter that, there is a very popular yogurt drink called ayran that it sounds like you can order at any restaurant, so homegirl will be drinking a lot of that!
My phone definitely won't work there unless I give Verizon at least $100, but I recently purchased an eSim for someone in Gaza and plan to use this valuable resource on this trip. For $14, I can get 10gb of data over 30 days. I'll be able to contact people through Google Voice, Facebook messenger, and WhatsApp. Except, to do that, I will also need a VPN because Turkey blocks some social media companies. I'll use my existing Bitdefender account to do that.
Lots of things to research for this trip! More than for most others I've taken.
Also, I'm going to bring some of these stickers but in Turkish! I had a Facebook friend verify the correct translation and that this message would resonate with people in Istanbul.
I'll give you more updates down the road.
🧿 Life Observations
What Do I Think of the Harris/Walz Ticket?
I think Walz was a good choice over Shapiro, who is ultra Zionist. But Harris has still not set out a plan for Gaza or really for anything. We're experiencing a weird (yeah, I said it) honeymoon phase with really no idea what her plan for America is. And I don't want to just hear a plan. I want to hear about the implementation strategy. Politicians pay lip service to a lot of issues without doing a damn thing. I want to see the plan and then check the receipts. This country is in crisis, and we need solid solutions.
Harris has said she wants a ceasefire, but that rings hollow after 200,000 dead Palestinians, half of whom are children. We're breaking our own laws right now by arming Israel. Let's face it: all their units have committed gross human rights violations. We need to stop all arms and money to Israel until further notice. Israel has no plan. Why are we funding their endless assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? As long as I live, I'll never forgive the Americans responsible for making this happen and making excuses for a colonial settler apartheid state committing ethnic cleansing.
📑 Project Updates
How to Find Joy in a Capitalist Hellscape
I'm halfway through my first edit and hope to do a total of two before moving into the formatting phase. I can still edit after that, so it's not a big deal.
My inside illustrations are going slower than anticipated. I might have to interrupt them to finish the full cover (front, spine, and back). I hope they won't have to be left out. Fingers crossed.
⏰️ Currently
🥵 Trying to eek out some walking despite “feels like" temps of 103 at 6:00 pm.
🫁 Doing some deep breathing as my desired book pre-sale date gets closer.
🖼 Feeling filled up after seeing art last night at ArtWalk, including a piece entitled Joy.