“I am no longer afraid of becoming lost, because the journey back always reveals something new, and that is ultimately good for the artist.”
― Billy Joel
It’s a sleepy Wednesday morning on Vashon Island and mist hangs over the trees surrounding Quartermaster Bay like a veil, serene and translucent.
I’ve come to this little island off the coast of Seattle with my dear friend Erin, whom I met at a blogging conference in Copenhagen, trekked across Spain with on the Camino, and happily hosted in Delhi last November. Life – and the world – has this magical way of bringing us together, again and again.
We now sit across from each other at Erin’s grandmother’s dining table, eating clam chowder and working on our blogs – the very blogs that first helped our paths to cross.
What I’m most stoked to be working on, here on an island in the Puget Sound, is my next sketching trip:
Sketching Eastern Europe and the Middle East: Ten weeks. Nine countries. One sketching adventure from Prague to Petra.
I mentioned it briefly last Friday, but I now want to tell you a bit more about the journey to come – not only about where I’m heading this September, but also about how you can follow along and share in the travel sketches while I’m there.
The itinerary
Six weeks sketching around Southeast Asia and Japan felt like a daunting enough task, so to help keep this upcoming trip somewhat manageable, I’m breaking it up into four parts:
Czech Republic and Austria: A story of mine just so happened to win a contest back in April, the grand prize of which was a trip for two to Prague (thank you, New York Travel Festival!). And so it is that my lovely mother and I will kick off the trip together in Prague, then journey to a small Czech village called Uhersky Brod – where my maternal great grandparents actually emigrated from to the US – and finish up with four nights in beautiful Vienna.
Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria: I’ll then head to a region I know next to nothing about, Eastern Europe (okay fine, I know nothing about it), but hopefully working my way across these three countries overland will change that. Apart from visiting their capitals, my itinerary is wide open, and I’ve been looking to other travel bloggers for some inspiration (i.e. people like Michael from Time Travel Turtle, who is currently in Serbia).
Turkey: I can’t honestly remember the last time I was this excited to visit a new country. Turkey has forever been one of those places where any time someone mentions they’re heading there, a pang of travel envy the size of Texas shoots through me. The plan is to spend at least two weeks here, if not three – getting lost in Istanbul, exploring the Black Sea coast and the tea growing region of Rize, and hopefully trekking in the Kaçkar Mountains.
Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan: A serendipitous invitation to come speak and sketch at the Travel Bloggers Unite conference in Jerusalem this October provided the perfect other bookend for this trip: I’ll be ending up in the Middle East! When I’m not prepping for (and panicking over) my first speaking gig, I plan to make it to Beirut, Lebanese vineyards, as many historic sites as possible in Israel, the Wadi Rum Desert, and, of course, Petra.
Join me on the journey!
My absolute favorite part of Sketching Southeast Asia and Japan was sharing the journey with you – whether that was through sketch stories here on the blog or through more in-the-moment updates on The Great Affair’s Facebook page – so the plan is to carry on with more of the same for this trip:
Blog: Subscribe here for free updates about when a new sketch story is live on the blog – look forward to two travel sketches a week!
Facebook: ‘Like’ our Facebook page for daily updates from the road – especially for photos of on-location sketching sessions and memorable encounters.
Twitter: Every journey deserves a good hashtag, so keep an eye out for #SketchingEMEA (which is apparently a pretty recognized acronym for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa…there are sadly no African destinations on my itinerary, but it sounds a little better than EEME!).
I’m full of ideas for how to compile the sketches and stories together after the trip (I’m thinking even bigger than Beneath the Lantern’s Glow!), but for now, I’d simply like to invite you to join me on this next sketching adventure, starting September 2nd – I have a feeling it’s going to be good.
Have you been to any of the countries on my itinerary?
As you can *possibly* tell, there isn’t a lot that is set in stone yet, so I welcome any suggestions or recommendations you might have – especially for places that would be good to sketch!
Argh! I totally forgot to talk to you about the Camino while you were here! Darn it.
I’m so jealous and definitely with you on the major desire to go to Turkey. Can’t wait to see all these places through your art!
Ahh, that’s too bad, Carmel! I would have loved to reminisce about the Camino with you a bit last week 🙂 Are you and Shawn thinking of doing it at some point on your trip? I seriously can’t recommend it enough!
Hope all the final prep and packing is going well, and I’m so excited for both our journeys to kick off soon!
It would just be me. I think we’ve officially decided that I won’t be able to do it this trip, but it’s one of those lifelong goals of mine…yet another one. 🙂
Hey, there’s always time! The brilliant thing about the Camino is that it definitely isn’t going anywhere, so I know you’ll get there – if not on this trip, then in the future 🙂
Brilliant Candace, so great you will finally head off to Jordan!! Any time you need a company? And you are missing out Slovenia, girl! not good, not good at all.
Also, one more thing I am passionate about: Serbia might not even qualify for Eastern Europe, it is more Balkans than anything. Eastern block countries were those that have been under Soviet Union, but Yugoslavia never was. And Slovenia for instance is Central Europe, so is Hungary really and Austria. Just to be careful, people are touchy about these things in the area.
Let me know if you need any contacts in Serbia or Hungary. Good luck and wonderful trip. Looking forward to the sketching results 🙂
Hello, my lovely friend! Thanks so much for your comment, and for all the great advice. Trust me – I’m so sad to be missing Slovenia! But thankfully I know this won’t be my last trip to Europe, so it’ll be high on the list for next time 🙂 And thank you as well for what you shared – I’d done some research beforehand to try and figure out how best to name the trip, and it seems like quite the complicated region to find a single term for! I’ll really be focusing on the “From Prague to Petra” title, though, so hopefully that will avoid sending anyone the wrong message. Hope all is well in London!
Lovely places. You will thoroughly enjoy this trip. I haven’t been to all of the places but of the ones I know I couldn’t tell you which one I liked best. Prague is wonderful. Don’t miss Masada in Israel. And I loved Petra (though almost didn’t get out of there because of a blizzard….).
Hello, Rita! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the recommendation to visit Masada – I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of it, but after reading a bit about it, I will definitely have to make it there 🙂 So glad you enjoyed both Prague and Petra – I’m really looking forward to visiting them both! (and fingers crossed I don’t run into any blizzards along the way 🙂
This is so exciting!!! I can’t wait to follow all the beauty and magic you will undoubtedly be seeing, and creating 🙂
Thanks so much, lovely!! I am quite excited about the upcoming trip – not only about the future sketches themselves, but starting to share them here again 🙂
Ditto what Hannah said!! Thank you as always for the beauty and inspiration! I’m sad I won’t be joining you at Book Passage but I look forward to hearing all about it!
Thank you, Monica! It’s an absolute pleasure to share the sketches here, and I’m so glad to hear they’re a source of inspiration 🙂 I’m definitely sad you won’t be at BP this year, but hopefully we can make that happen in 2014!
This is such an exciting itinerary! Best of luck with all of your travels. I studied abroad in Amman in 2007 and had a great time, make sure you check out Rainbow Street for some cool cafes and views of the city (at least, I hope that’s still true).
Thanks, Kristin! That’s awesome to hear you studied abroad in Amman – that must’ve been quite the experience. I’m finally starting to jot down the bare bones of an itinerary – really just notes of where I hope to visit – so I will have to officially add Rainbow Street to the list…thanks for the recommendation 🙂
I love your itinerary! (And what a poetic name.) And I can’t wait to see your sketches!
Thanks so much, Ashley! I’m definitely thrilled to finally be visiting some of these places – and I can’t wait to share the sketches with you here 🙂
Looking forward to the sketches!!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that, Pauline 🙂 Hope all is well with you!
So excited for you! Love the name, and Europe is AMAZING. I can’t wait to see the gorgeous sketches you’ll be creating!
Although one question: with all the beautiful places you’re traveling to, why skip Switzerland? (I’m biased, because I’ll be studying there this year on exchange, but still…)
Anyway, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time. Blessings on your travel!
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Hannah! And don’t worry – it isn’t an issue of “skipping” Switzerland 🙂 Basically, I won flights to Prague and was very keen to explore a few corners of Europe I haven’t visited before…Switzerland is still on the list, but most likely for a future trip! That’s wonderful to hear you’ll be studying there this year, though – whereabouts will you be based?
Oh, that makes sense… Prague does sound wonderful, so have fun exploring those corners 🙂
I am currently still in high school, so I’ll be studying at a Gymnasium near Basel (almost exactly where the French, German, and Swiss borders intersect). You’ve inspired me to pick up watercolor sketching again, so hopefully there will be ample opportunity for that!
Thanks so much, Hannah! And what you’ll be doing sounds incredible – especially the chance to maybe pick up a few different languages? 🙂 I also love hearing that you might bring your watercolors with you! I can only imagine the inspiration that awaits you in Switzerland.
Sounds like quite an amazing trip! Can’t wait to see the sketches. The Balkans are absolutely amazing too, and Turkey is one of my favorites. My trips through the Balkans were some of my best (and I seem to find myself heading more east than west these days in Europe too because its so interesting there). If you need any advice on Jordan let me know, I just returned from living there for a bit over 6 months.
I couldn’t agree more with you, Anwar – I’m definitely more drawn to the east at the moment, so that’s why I really wanted to head towards Turkey and the Middle East as opposed to focusing this trip more on Western Europe. That’s great to hear you enjoyed the Balkans (and Jordan) so much, I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have 🙂 Thanks again for stopping by!
Cool I tried to send some suggestions / advice about Jordan through the contact form, but as always when i start writing I end up writing way too much! Hopefully the form sent and they are of use 🙂
Anwar! I can’t apologize enough for not getting back to your email yet…it was *tremendously* helpful and I’m so grateful to you for taking the time to write all that out. I’ll be in touch soon, but in the mean time, thank you again!!
This sounds like an amazing trip! I can imagine that the middle east is going to be especially inspirational for your sketches! I am especially jealous of the Jordan leg and that you’ll be attending TBU Jerusalem- blogging conferences are always so far from where I am at that place and time!
Thanks so much, Jade! As excited as I am to visit the Czech Republic and other countries in Eastern Europe, you are exactly right – it’s the thought of sketching the Middle East for the first time that truly thrills me 🙂 I’ll be sure to let you know how Jordan is, and I so wish you could join us in Jerusalem for TBU!
My husband and I traveled recent from Istanbul to Vienna, much of the time on a riverboat on the Danube, and I blogged about some of our adventures on what has otherwise been my professional blog. That blog is morphing, as I transition into the next chapter of my career (what I like to think of as the non-retirement chapter), into a more personal one, and I’ve been taking some watercolor and sketching classes over the last few years (no talent here, but sincere desire) with the goal of being able to illustrate some of m posts. I’ve been trying to include the links here, but I keep getting an error message, so just search my blog for “Istanbul.” Safe travels.
Hello, Naomi! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say hello – it’s great to hear from you 🙂 I really enjoyed hearing about your time on the Danube…I had a look at your blog, and love that you went to many of the places I’ll be visiting next month – if you have any suggestions of particular places to visit, I would welcome them! That’s wonderful as well that you’ve been taking watercolor lessons – I’m sure they will make a perfect addition to your site. I was just telling my first sketching student this week that it really just takes time and practice…even doing a single small sketch a day helps. Can’t wait to see your sketches one day on your site!
What an incredible itinerary you have! I can’t wait to follow along.
Thanks so much, Andi! I’m definitely stoked to be kicking this trip off in less than a month 🙂 Hope you’re doing so well, can’t wait to share this next sketching adventure with you!
Hi Candace.
Gorgeous sketches!
How about putting Sarajevo to paper? 🙂
Thanks so much, Keval! And while I would absolutely love to come and sketch Sarajevo, I’m not sure I’ll have time to on this trip – definitely next time, though 🙂