Making Plans

So I've made some plans... starting with my one-way ticket to Athens. My mom asked me (more than once) if I wasn't telling her something. If I had made some crazy plans that I'm afraid to tell her or if I never plan on returning. God knows that if I could find a way to live in Greece and still do all the things I'd like to do, I would.

But moving away isn't my intention. In fact, the main reason why I've planned an adventure like this is because I can't picture myself moving anywhere. I can't picture myself staying in one place and making it a home. So, I'm going to travel for a year.

But how do I make a trip more substantial? How do I make it something other than the cliche backpacking-around-Europe-after-I graduate-from-college trip? Well, the first step is to write about it. The next step is to make it into some sort of research.

After studying abroad in Athens in 2005, one of my friends, Kasha, stayed to work on an organic fig farm for a few weeks. She had a wonderful time and ever since then, I've been waiting for a time for me to do the same...and that time is in 25 days.

WWOOF is an organization that joins organic farmers with volunteers. After paying a $30 membership fee, I was given access to information about all the organic farms that have listed with WWOOF Independents. From there, I contacted farms in Greece, Spain, and Portugal, and planned the first six months of my trip!

Here are my plans so far:
June 28: Depart from O'Hare
June 29: Arrive in Athens, check into hostel
July 1: Take ferry to Paros, arrive at first farm!

The first farm I'll be working at is owned by a man named Jim. Jim's farm caught my eye over a year ago when I started thinking seriously about volunteering on farms in Greece. Here is the short blurb Jim included in his WWOOF farm info posting:

"Midway through building center for creative arts study and retreat on Aegean Island. Help on five acre farm land according to principles of dryland reclamation. Establishing: water systems, windbreaks, composting, organic gardens. Building help also needed: stone laying, woodwork, etc. Greek winter is generally mild and good for outdoor work. Comfortable accomodation. Good food; veg or non-veg; good walking country. Guitar playing not essential, but welcome. Collect from boat upon arrival."

Every time I read Jim's posting, I would smile at the guitar playing part. It's only fitting that his is the first farm I will visit on my trip.
If everything goes as planned, I will be staying on Jim's farm until July 23. The next farm I have to be on is in Northern Greece on August 15. I'm planing on going back to Crete for those weeks to visit my friends from the archaeological dig I worked on last summer. I'm so excited to see them all again!

My plans after that:
September 10-October 12: Pilion center in Northern Greece
October 15- November 15: Still waiting on farms in Italy/Spain
November 18 - December 12: Pure Portugal!
December 13?: Still up in the air, but hoping to skip down to Morocco to visit a professor at the end of a study abroad trip.
December 15 or so: Fly to London, travel to farm in Wirral.

That's all I've got for now. I'm still trying to figure out visa information, health insurance, and how exactly I'll get from farm to farm. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and think I'm crazy... think that I won't be able to do this all by myself.

But then I get over it.