Expectations, and the Open Road.

"Are you going to keep a blog?"

"How will you afford this?"

"When will you post?"

"You should do this!"

"Are you going alone?"

"Go see this!!"

"Post something!!"

"That's awesome!"

"Will this even work out?"

Let's get the the introduction out of the way, because remember, everything's written in a five-paragraph format according to someone who enjoys grading on that scale.

My name is Natalie D. West, (the D is for DERELICT DARING) at present writing, more age than sense, the passport says USA USA USA (which makes me at least 25% cowboy), and an adventure enthusiast. I get excited for travel, cliches of the worst sort, prescribing terrible literature, and things that don't exist but in storybooks.

I am also classified according to Google Search as a "Digital Nomad," or "Get off the internet."

                                                             Also, my business card.

As of today, October 7th, 2014 I am boarding a plane to Amsterdam, Netherlands, on a one-way ticket where, from there I will be journeying across Europe, Central Asia, and to Southeast Asia and beyond. I will be managing this blog as a log of the sites I see, the things I do, and the trouble I'm always in the stories to tell.

The blog's name is INTERNATIONALLY NATALIE, because, well, this is a travel blog  and it needs to have a travel name and it really does sound best when announced in a room with a song by Queen playing and then disco lights start and everyone gets off their smartphones for more than 30 seconds to stare in awe..... like in the movie I saw last week.

The motto of the blog is as follows:

"Travel around the world. See stuff. Do stuff. Also, this is a quote by someone famous, italicized for effect, and it's on a coffee mug I saw at Hallmark , and now I've copied it, oh look a mint!"

Four years ago I graduated school without really answering the question of what I want to be when I grow up (which is entirely overrated...no wait, it's not) . Four years later and it's back to answering that same question. I've pinpointed it down some:

Travel blogger?

Nomad?

Gypsy?

English Teacher?
 
Pirate???????

And yet, which one fits? What is the surefire THIS IS IT and PICK ME solution?
 
Pirate?????

I felt a year ago being a 'Travel Blogger' would be a feasible answer. However, many hours on the internet reveals that:

"Everyone and their second cousin is a travel blogger." (this may or may not be actual fact)

There's an answer, and this is it:

__________???. 

Travel blogging has been done before, and it's been done better. At this point, my expectations are: To live, to take photos, and to write it down. And hopefully be minutely entertaining to an audience. And to remember to bring my toothbrush.

                                                 BUT THIS IS HOW I ENVISION IT ALL TURNING OUT.

The ultimate goal is to find out what's it all about. What it is. If it's raiding tombs and fedoras, well, that's a start. It's a journey of self-discovery. It's travel blogging. It's the great unknown. Living a life without boundaries. Going beyond borders. Living with no regrets. You only live once. Leaving on a jet plane.

"Oh by the way, I'm leaving and I'm never coming back!" -every travel blogger ever.

                INTERNATIONALLY NATALIE IS COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU!

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Paris, France
Geneva, Switzerland
Nice, France
Monaco, France
Turin, Italy
Bucharest, Romania
Sofia, Bulgaria
Belgrade, Serbia
Budapest, Hungary
Zagreb, Croatia
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
Rome, Italy
Naples, Italy
Athens, Greece
Delphi, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Amman, Jordan
Tel Aviv, Israel
Dubai, UAE
Melbourne, Australia
and MORE......
that's not ominous right?
 
I am looking forward to the mayhem. I'm not sure the rest of the world is.
 
Next post, AMS-TER-DAM!!!!!!
 


Pirate???????