It is rare that I blog about our B and B guests, but sometimes it is worth writing about. Melissa and Julie booked our place months ago, but we had no idea at the time that they were beginning a great adventure. I had many e-mails back and forth with Melissa’s mom, Trudy. It was Melissa’s birthday and she wanted to pay their room while here.
The day before they were due to arrive, I received a panicky e-mail from Trudy. The airline did not want to let them travel out of Portland, since they had no return ticket to the U.S. from any destination. They had a connecting flight in Salt Lake City, so they were to call her from there if there was a problem. They were able to continue their travels to NYC and then to Budapest without incident, but were ready to crash on arrival.
When they had regained their energy and they were back to their perky selves, we were able to get the scoop on their plans. They both quit their jobs, sold their house, and set off to travel for six months. Wow, ladies, this is how we started out, so be careful. Julie was up for an out of the States long term experience, but Melissa was nervous when the idea was mentioned.
So while they were touring around Budapest, these were their plans. When they left Budapest, they were going to Eger on a Servas stint. “What is that?”, I can hear you asking. Well directly from their website, here you go.
What is SERVAS?
| With every true friendship we build
more firmly the foundations on which
the peace of the whole world rests. Mahatma Gandhi |
SERVAS is ...
- ... an international, non-governmental organization.
- ... based on understanding, tolerance and world peace.
- ... an organization of hosts and travellers.
- ... based on volunteer work.
- ... founded in 1949.
- ... non-profit.
- ... divided into nine areas around the world. Each area has its own coordinator.
http://www.servas.org/index.php?id=InfoCenter%3AWeb+sites%3AInternational%3AWhatIsServas
They contacted their host. He and his family were moving from one place to another and his home was not yet ready, but he was going to arrange accommodations for them. I cannot wait to read that story.
Their next stop after Eger will be Prague. It is Julie’s birthday on the 14th, so she got to choose her destination. Then this adventurous duo will be doing Conversational English in Spain for two weeks. Each day, they trade their English conversation with Spaniards in exchange for room and board at one of five English schools in Spain. Before your mind starts working overtime with opportunities, know that you are committed for 12-15 hours a day, talk, talk, talk with no time to tour, shop, or tour and shop. They also have two weeks working on an organic farm in France as part of a free labor project. If you want to read more about their experiences, their blog is in the link section of this post.
When we have guests who have a birthday while they are with us, we get a birthday
cake and celebrate with them. We were able to celebrate two at once since Melissa and Julie’s special days were only a bit over two weeks apart.
I cannot wait to continue reading your travel adventures women and I will not be surprised to find out your home in the future does not have a U.S. address. Calm down Melissa, it will be fine. Oh, and lest I forget, they had business cards made up with their blogsite, their names and e-mail addresses and Vagabonds in bold letters. Great idea! www.wegougo.blogspot.com
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