Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy......

As many of you know, I am saving like mad to get going on this contiki travel tour of Europe as soon as humanly possible.

I have a savings account with an embarrassingly low sum of money cooped up inside, as well as R2000.00 being held hostage by my landlords.

I still have about R14'000 to save for this trip - that is for the tour alone. Then I still need to sort out my visa, have no idea how much that will cost! Above that I still need to save for the actual ticket.

My goal was to go in May, for my birthday but I'm starting to face the sad reality that this may not be possible.

On a mission to pursue my dream I finally actioned a plan that my dad and I have been working on for a few months.

I have been working on opening up my own vintage / secondhand clothing and accessories store called Salvage. There is a graphic designer busy on my logo, which I will reveal to you all within the next week!

As for now, I am running this little business through Facebook as it seems to be the easiest way.

I am selling handbags and clothing for as little as R5.00.

Some of the items I am selling have never even been worn - so it's really worth your while to check it out by finding my facebook page, linked below:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152159008680307.908627.598380306&type=1

For now it is just an album, but once I have my logo finalized I will create a page and get things more professional.

All money made is deposited directly into my Italy Savings Fund. 

This month I made just over a grand and last month I had similar results and that was from just a few random bits and bobs; old rings and necklaces I'll never wear again etc...

So in that regard, things couldn't really be going better!

I am finally getting relentless with my things. Yesterday I sold my favorite brown leather handbag for just R20.00, but I just finally realized I have so many handbags and although I loved this one it was just collecting dust in the back of the cupboard.

Some friends have been so supportive and work colleages too, I am so blessed to have such a loving and caring support system all around me that are doing whatever they can to make this dream possible.

It's quite ironic really... to be a free-spirited traveler requires a lot of money.

I also noticed that to dress like a hippy, in bohemian clothing is also an expensive lifestyle.

Main Bazaar and Papaya, my favorite bohemian clothing stores have the most incredible clothes for someone with my gypsy style, but they cost over R200.00 per item usually! 

I find that hilarious.

The world is just so controversial. Bohemian's, gypsys' and hippies pride themselves for being care-free and living from the earth and all of that but reality is that to adopt that lifestyle is even more expensive than before.

To be vegetarian is extremely expsenive unless you grow your own crop, which lets face it, a lot of us just don't have time for. I mean, I have been planning to start a herb garden for months now. I bought the seeds and painted the signs and everything... it's the planting part that I am procrastinating about.

My favorite maroon hippy pants, also known as aladdin pants nearly cost me an arm and a leg! They are really comfortable and I love them to bits - but I couldn't afford to have an entire cupboard filled with that... not unless I did another trip to Thailand.

I have collected all of my old notepads over the years and flipping through the pages of a nine year olds rambles about her hopes and dreams of traveling Europe at the tender age of twenty makes my heart swell with sadness.

Back then I thought it would be so easy. I knew nothing about the process, the money, the struggle it would be... I knew nothing about visas and language and this and that... I just knew that when I left school I would go. 

I did travel a lot at twenty, exploring the streets of Thailand and Singapore, I rode camels in Tunisia and sat on the steps leading up to an emmaculate building in Greece. I belly danced in Turkey and poked fun at the guards in front of Buckham Palace, England. 

I have swam in many oceans and toured wine estates, indulging in delicious cheeses... 

I have taken wrong turns and gotten lost, I have found enticing new gateways and colourful shacks...

I have aquired many skills from surfing to fire breathing, to poi-poi dancing (setting myself alight in the process,) juggling bottles and scuba diving... I've done it all. 

I have done a lot for my age and for that I am truly blessed, I just wish I had handled those times better.

My mother took me under her wing and sorted out all of the flights and visas out for me - so again I just had it handed to me on a platter...

Now, at twenty-one, I am discovering it is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. 

I want to embrace getting lost on unfamiliar streets and stumbling across new and exciting things! 

I am trying so so hard.. I am working my butt off and saving every cent I can.

Please support my new online store, Salvage. 

I think it is going to bloom now coming close to Christmas! All these little earrings and necklaces make great little gifts if you have a box to plop them in.

The clothing is cheap and as good as new, I take insanely good care of my clothing so you'd know it would be perfect.

All I need is roughly R25'000. It IS possible. 

This sign on my forehead means a lot more than just a superhero...

 

There will always be new things being uploaded onto my site, so keep looking out and supporting. 

Peace be the journey.