ready for vacation

my first *real* vacation starts after close of business today.

you should push the play button to the left of this song, and listen to 'holiday' while you read this post.
holiday (not madonna)

what's a *real* vacation? it's a vacation that doesn't include parents, fighting with siblings, meeting a friend/family member and crashing at their place, or any other trip where i was going regardless if i wanted to or not. i'm about to embark on a vacation where me and my friends plan to put stamps in our passports, spend our own hard earned money (some of us), and contribute to some foreign country's tourism industry.

i'm looking forward to coming back to my computer after this *real* vacation, logging into google reader and seeing (2,000) unread posts. i also expect that i won't receive one single text message, or phone call though i'll be carrying my iphone around in airplane mode (with wifi on of course) but mainly for music and maps.

where am i going? europe! specifically london, amsterdam, and barcelona. personally i've started referring to this trip as the ultimate europe trip, though i'm sure millions of people have 'done' europe in a more ultimate fashion, but it's ultimate to me which is all i freakin' care about.

i've already made a list of my todo's. don't ding me for being under-ambitious, this is a living list and can (but probably won't) change at any time.

- london:
eat fish and chips
see miike snow concert (i've bought tix in advance)
eat indian food
see big ben
ride the 'tube' aka the public transport system
drink a guiness
learn some slang
make a friend

- amsterdam:
ride a bike
ride in the canal
see the red light district (look but no touch, c'mon guys)
heinekin factory tour, or just drink a heinekin
vah gough musem
learn some slang
make a friend

- barcelona:
drink sangria on the beach
eat pallela
touch the mediterranean sea
see something gaudi
learn some slang
make a friend

as you can see, my list is not as prolific as some other europe bound travelers you may have met. but really, i'm not someone else, i'm me. i do plan on accomplishing more than this simple list, but those things can't be planned, they need to happen organically. also, notice that there's a few re-occurring goals on these lists. learn some slang and make a friend appear on all three city lists. those two can go hand in hand, and are loosely worded on purpose. i'm not looking to meet a soulmate, or a bff. but i do want to interact with some of the locals and make a friend or two, i figure at most an email penpal but even that's a bit far fetched for my aspirations.

- imaginary scenario:
me, "yo, you from around here?"
potential international friend "[insert some colo loca slang], ya i am. where you from?"
"i'm from san francisco, you know, in the states. i hate calling it 'the states' for some reason. but yea, i'm on vacat- i mean, holiday."
"[insert another local slang word]! well how long you here for?"
"a few days. wanna be friends?"
"uhh... i don't think so. no."

okay, maybe i'm being overly dramatic. but i've heard that us americans have bad reps overseas.

other than that, i don't know what to expect. i've technically been to europe, but i only went to ibiza. ibiza is the european equivalent of las vegas to the united states. you can't come to the usa, only see las vegas, and say that you've experienced the usa. same with ibiza, but it's nothing like vegas.

i am also hoping that the three other people who i am traveling with continue friendship with me after this vacation. when friends spend too much time together there is always the danger of a friend divorce. i'm pretty confident that nothing of that magnitude will happen this time around, but there's always a chance.

overall i'm feeling pretty good about my first *real* vacation. i've got low expectations, high hopes, and i'm packing extra underwear just because you never know what may happen and i'd rather be with more than less when it comes to underwear.