Well! This is it! You’re looking at the completed project I’ve been working on for the last month. A brand-spanking new battle station, set to decimate any and all AAA-game titles thrown at it. I’m pretty thrilled to see it in action, but also equally bummed I can’t keep it. May it live a charmed life, slaying epic frame rates far and wide. I’ve filmed the entire process, and I’ll be uploading the finished videos in a couple of days, which I’ll link here when they’re done being edited.
In other news, my trip to Ukraine is just around the corner! I’m so excited it’s difficult to put it into words.
I haven’t traveled abroad in six years–not since my return from Canada in 2010. That’s way too long, especially for someone like me who would really prefer to just be traveling constantly.
But my passport is renewed, I’ve bought a fancy travel bag and the kit to go with it, a new camera, and I’m reading a handful of books on Chernobyl and the history of Ukraine, going all the way back to neolithic times. It’s fascinating stuff, if a bit dry at times. I’m planning on recording the whole trip and making a video blog about it. I’m torn between wanting to go entirely without any electronics, aside from my camera, and spend the two weeks unhooked and unplugged. But, I think it’ll prove really useful in researching where I want to go next to have my computer with me. And phones are helpful in just about everything, so… probably not going to happen. Also, would making video blogging a bit difficult. Even though I’ll probably film first, and upload the results when I get back. We’ll see what feels right when I go.
The other exciting news is that I’m now making a real adventure out of it, and while I’m flying into Kiev (or Kyiv, as the Ukrainians spell it), I’m flying out of Istanbul! That’s right, in the course of 16 days, I’ll need to make my way from Kyiv, all the way down to Turkey. I’m not sure what prompted me to try this route, other than it sounds like it’ll be an amazing time, and something I’ve never done before. I’ll be visiting two of Dracula’s castles (real life Vlad the Impaler–dude loved impaling things), Budapest, maybe Prague if I can find a good flight, into Hungary, maybe Slovakia, maybe even Serbia! Down to Bulgaria, and finally Turkey. A handful of countries I’ve never been to–I’m adding at least five to my passport, hopefully I can come home with 40 countries in my new total.
Whatever happens, I’m thrilled at the prospect of what I’ll see and discover, and I feel like it’s ushering in a new chapter for me. One full of possibility and opportunity. I know I’m going to Tibet next year, for at least two months, but past that I don’t know what the future holds, or where I’ll find myself in the next five years. But this–travel, adventure–must be in my life. I’m not complete without it. Someone I met recently reminded me not to lose sight of that, and I don’t think I shall.
Pearson Sharp 