Touring Ireland on my Own

Journey

Forward

Prologue

the nest

college

Break

Ireland

Visiting

Touring

Returning

The Seacoast

Portsmouth

The Road

The Tortoise

Seattle

Epilogue

Afterward

For the second half of my time in Ireland I hitchhiked around the country staying in hostels and meeting other travelers. While I had spent so much time dreaming of traveling in the US I now found myself spending my days with other travelers from all over the world. (This proved to be one of the best parts of the trip, though one that I had not anticipated.)

Hostelling

I did not have any experience with youth hostels, but since they were the cheapest way to stay, and a good way to meet people, I used them exclusively.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

County Sligo, Ireland

From Swinford I headed north up to Galway, then down the coast through county Galway, Dingle, Cork, and then up to Dublin. I spent a whole week in the town of Doolin — a haven for Irish music and 'great crack' that sits by the Cliffs of Moher. With litte time remaining I took a quick trip around the Ring of Kerry before making my way back to Dublin to catch the return ferry to England. After a last overnight visit with my family in Manchester I was on the train for London and my flight back to the States.

Celeste

The trip through Ireland on my own was about 5 weeks long, but having by then adjusted to the slow pace of Ireland it felt much longer. I met a French woman in a hostel in Galway and we traveled together on and off for the rest of my time there.

Singing for my Supper

I hung out in the kitchen in Killarney doing a little dishwashing to pay for dinner and in Doolin helped the hostel owner put up sheet rock to pay for a couple night's stay. I climbed the Cliffs of Moher above the Antlantic breakers, and hung out with travelers from all over the world in the hostels. I was befriended by a Socialist bar owner who thought I was a kindred spirit because I could remember the lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" even after several flagons of cider. It was a wild and wonderful journey through a beautiful country.

Though it was not what I had originally set out to do, I was getting the travel experience that I had been after.