Backpacking through Europe in 1994
Day 30 • October 6, 1994
Tours, France
There are no photographs from thirty years ago today. When I got back to Tours there was some bad news for me, and I remembering being sick to my stomach when I heard it and not really caring too much about taking pictures.
After returning from my fantastic weekend in Paris, Olivier told me that due to an unexpected freeze, a lot of the grapes in the wine fields were lost and there would be no jobs for temporary field laborers. That meant my plan for working and making money to fund this crazy adventure was gone. It looked like I was going to have to start living off of a credit card I had applied for, gotten and brought along with me in case of emergencies.
So on this day, thirty years ago, I was very frustrated, feeling depressed, alone, and not real sure of what I was doing or going to do next.
I spent the evening contemplating my next move in Donald’s Pub, the favorite hangout for Olivier, his girlfriend Rachel and all their friends.
I remember being upset at hearing everyone around me talking in French and not understanding anything. People laughing and not getting their jokes, wondering if they were laughing at me. I barely understood what was on the menu or what I was ordering.
I was also upset that I had never found my Journal after leaving London. I knew I wanted to go get a new one, but after learning I would not be making any money by working in the fields picking grapes, only spending money and going further into credit card debt, the thought of even buying a simple blank notebook had my stomach churning.
I bummed a couple sheets of paper from someone at Donald’s Pub, and while slowly sipping a whiskey and Coke to make it last as long as possible, I finally started writing my thoughts down again.
I can tell by the number of times I crossed out words how the alcohol was affecting me that night.
Donald’s Pub Drink Menu Front
Day 30 / 10-06-94
Tours, France
Question?
Why does a man leave the comfort and security of family, friends, and a home to go to a land where, for all practical purposes, he knows no one, has no way to communicate, and no way to support himself?
Why does a chicken cross the road? To see if can be done??
And at what point does the man know if he has succeeded? Does such a point even exist?
And is the greater task at hand, the more difficult task, to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of the word – or of himself?
“People are strange, when you’re a stranger, faces seem ugly, when you’re alone” – Jim Morrison
A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender asks, “Why the long face?”
Today is the one-month anniversary of my departure, and I’m sitting in Donald’s Pub in Tours, France, with my horse face, asking myself if I’m very, very smart or just plain stupid?
Coming to Europe on a wing and a prayer, with absolutely no itinerary, timeline or clue as to what I was going to do once I arrived may sound rather suicidal, but therein lies the beauty of it all. The sheer fact that there is no plan and that each day will be a spontaneous adventure is extremely thrilling.
I’m a sort of Generation X James Bond. A foreign diplomat with little more than my intelligence and cunning to rely on, and of course my portable CD player, perfecting the art of bumming food, beer and cigarettes off the locals while always keeping one eye open for a place to crash for the night.
And of course there are the women. Just as every great Bond adventure has more than enough beauties, so does mine. But I’m inclined to think that the ones I’ve met are less interested in my smashing good looks (“Beanpole” is an appropriate adjective) and appreciation of martinis (“Just beer me” is my catch phrase) and more stimulated by my accent and the theory that sleeping with ‘the American’ can greatly raise one’s social standing amongst friends.
And granted, while I don’t worry about circular saw blades dropping down on my like James Bond did, I’m sure he didn’t worry about the much more realistic and frequently faced danger of contracting AIDS.
Donald’s Pub Drink Menu Back