Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes I commonly make is being too loose-lipped about my decisions, particularly about decisions that aren't etched in stone. A little voice in the back of my brain told me not to let slip the recent decision (read: made yesterday) to move to Spain but there I was, barreling down 696 toward flamenco class with my teacher at the helm telling her how we had decided to make the move. I couldn't help but delight in her excitement and I tried, with near futility, to remember everything she was recommending to me. One of the greatest recommendations she had, however, was that we live in Barcelona. She said that there I could still get a good flamenco education but we would be in a city center and we would be on the pulse of all that is creative in Spain.

Barcelona, will you have us?

Read more after the jump.

The Prodigal Fugue

Consistency is not among my strengths.

Since I have been silent, I have been traveling, although what marks my return to the blog is a renewed desire to leave the States for new experiences, languages and cuisines.

After the August trip to Kansas City, MO, for my brother-in-law's wedding, we took an extended weekend trip to Toronto where our band played a festival of sorts. Toronto was invigorating, complete with a real "big city" vibe. We spent most of one day just walking up and down Queen Street for nearly four miles, peeking in windows, ducking into shops, resisting the urge to buy.

In December, we made the trek down to Memphis to visit our families for the holidays. My parents were preparing to move to the coast of Maine (they made the move in January) so it was to be our last group family get-together. On the way back, Remy and I stopped at the Mammoth Cave National Park and took one of the cave tours. We had little time for even that tour, let alone doing any of the others, so we vowed to return this Thanksgiving for an extended weekend so that we can do each and every one of them.

We've been casually talking about visiting New Hampshire and Maine in the late Summer/early Autumn because my home-sickness has returned and I want desperately to see familiar faces and quaint little places once again.

What really got travel back on my mind was the news that an ex-friend of mine is moving to Toronto. Because she and I no longer speak, I don't know the details of how she is doing it but I do remember with painful detail our long and dreamy conversations about moving out of the US. The shock of hearing that someone I know has actually gone from talking about it to doing it jolted me into reality and I realized in horror and shame that I have been talking about moving abroad for over seven years now and am no closer to being able to do it than I was when I graduated from college.

I decided that that was it, I'm leaving. All of this consideration of late of buying a house and settling down is rubbish, my heart wants to leave, to run ragged around the world. There is time enough for settling down when I get older and can no longer travel. For now, I am young and passionate and filled with wonder. The world is mine, I'll be damned if I deny myself any longer.

The first step is to address my spending habits and figure out where I can cut back and save. The first thing to go is soda, junk food, trips to the convenience store and restaurants. I imagine that that alone accounts for at least one or two hundred of our monthly expenses. We have purchased a second car and, though it is nice to have another vehicle, we only need one. I think we could stand to sell it and that would free us from having to pay for its upkeep and insurance. Some more difficult ways we could learn to save is through our utility bills. We did just cancel our cable a few months ago but we could be better about our electricity and gas by turning off or unplugging televisions, computers and lights. Another necessary step is to have a garage sale to get rid of all of our excess clutter. We are packrats and collectors and need to rid ourselves of some of that baggage. I might even be persuaded to get rid of some of our books...at least the paperbacks.

The biggest challenge will be to save that money instead of buying a lot of big ticket items or, if we do feel like we need to get something expensive, we should be willing and able to divest ourselves of the old one.

Watch out, Spain, here we come!

Read more after the jump.