espana

Help!

My little sister, who is at least 100 times cuter and smarter than I am wants to go live and work in Spain for a year. She’d love to be an Au Pair for a family, teach English or at this point she is up for whatever options to consider. She has spent weeks scouring the internet and looking at agencies and come up empty handed. Anyone out there know someone living in Spain, working in Spain or have any thoughts/ideas/resources for her to use? Even better; Might anyone have some big-wig corporaty brother working in Madrid who needs someone to tend his kiddies while he jet-sets for work and makes his billions? She’s be great at that.

I would love you forever for any help to get her there, mostly because she is super responsible, trustworthy and fun. She deserves a great experience like living in another country. Also? Hellooooo! If she lives there then I can visit her! (Um, have I mentioned I love food, wine and Europe?)

Thanks anyone!

Oh wait…Ok, we just decided we wanted to make a video while we were on the phone together talking about life and work and Spain. Here’s some babbling fun:

…boy do I need to get out of my yoga clothes and get some heels on!

I love my little sister. She’s the bomb.

one week until east or bust!

I started out in July with Alaska or bust, now I go east or bust. I have decided I am going to make a bunch more videos this go around to add to the text and photos for posting here. Videos are fun. Road tripping is UBER fun.

I am finishing up my work during harvest season in wine country. It’s been quite a ride and learning experience to say the least. In the fun words of the one and only Erin Martin and the perfect motto for my time here that will be burned in my brain forever:

“High-fives and ass-slaps all around!” (Just wait until the going away par-tay on Saturday night Erin. A VT throwdown it shall be indeed.)

Stay tuned all; Middle America here I come!

i think there’s something wrong with me

I’m laughing after calculating mileage and looking at maps for getting back east in a couple weeks. Only I could be thrilled about it. The things most would find torturous, I get so excited I want to jump out of my skin. Things like:

1.) Driving 3,000 miles by myself, for hours on end each day. (And no, I don’t listen to music. I drive in silence.)
2.) Knowing that I’m going to be blasting through middle-of-nowhere-no-mans-land America. (When I mention this to other people, the usual reaction is “UGH! That is soooo boring. An awful drive!”) My opinion could not be more opposite on this. I’d give my left arm any day of the week to be in a car, in the middle of random state X exploring around some “boring” town talking to strangers.
3.) Having a car with 145,000 miles on it that needs a brake job and has had a “maintenance required” light on no for weeks. Am I worried? Nah- I’m resourceful and I have AAA. I’ll be fine. I haven’t even told you all the story about riding tow truck to tow truck all the way from Vegas to Barstow, CA 6 years ago after Christmas in the middle of the night because my car broke down after dropping off my family at the Sin City airport. I didn’t have the loot to repair my car then and I figured it out. that stuff makes for good stories.
4.) Knowing that over my dead body will I pay for a hotel room. That means no showers for several days again. (I’m sorry, but dropping a hundred bucks on a skeevy roadside hotel to sleep for 4 hours on a bed that could be a science experiment with all those random fluids is a rip-off and turns my stomach.) My Civic is spotless.
5.) I will have zilch $ to stop for entertainment, good food, etc. and it’s just fine with me! This will be a get moving to get there kind of drive. It will still feel like winning the lotto, my birthday and a big vat of melted chocolate to me- my heaven.

Do I really think there is something wrong with me? Nahhhhh. I do realize though after all I have done, being on the road is my true religion. I can’t wait to see some tumblin’ tumbleweed!