We have essentially taken over Craigslist with our ads. So far the response has been pretty good, but a few items are really stressing us out. For one thing, we have a leather living room set that is worth a pretty penny but, even after asking a blasphemously low price, nobody is biting. Also, I'm trying to sell my golf clubs (a rather unique set) and it's been hard to drum up interest in spite of a really low price and the free Sunday bag that comes with them. Leigh says she thinks it's because it's the end of the month and nobody has any money, so we're hoping that if we hold out we'll get an OK price for it after Oct 1. Anyway, it's been a little frustrating.
Yesterday we took the afternoon off and left the house, which was so nice after days of cleaning, packing, and picture taking. We walked to Elmwood for breakfast, stopped by the library and the bank. Then we hopped in the car and went to EMS to get some backpacking supplies. $80 later and we had all the carabiners, stuff sacks, fancy socks, and other travel odds and ends that will make our time abroad that much more organized and enjoyable. After that little splurge we hit the mall to do some window shopping and ran into some friends of ours while we were there. That was kind of fun. Before heading home I talked Leigh into going to Borders to check out a Rick Steves book written specifically for Provence and the French Riviera. After flipping through it and finding that it didn't have that much more information that my Rick Steves France and Let's Go Western Europe books, for the first time in my life I chose to not purchase a travel book.... really, you should see the collection I've started!
Last night I started designing a website using iWeb but then realized I couldn't publish it until I bought a domain name or found a free website that would allow me to publish it using an ftp. I know very little about website publishing, so after some fruitless searching I gave up. Maybe I'll have the time to sit down and figure this stuff out in a few weeks. I wouldn't mind paying a little bit for it, but I honestly don't know which company to go with that won't scam me! At any rate, I'm really excited about the website I've started designing. It's my first attempt at travel writing. So far I just have the introductory pages made with maps and links so you can click on a spot on the map and it will link to a journal entry or recollection about going to that place. I'm going to use pictures from my own past travels and the trips I have coming up.
The idea came when I realized that the area of France where I'll be living has this amazing private bus system where you can go pretty much anywhere in the department for 1 euro each way. This gives me the opportunity to take tons of day trips to little villages and just walk around, meet people, take pictures, etc. Since my job only has me working about 3 days per week I could do a trip or two every week if I felt like seeing something new. I also thought it would be a nice contribution to the world of free travel websites. Since I started the application process for this job I have relied heavily on a free site developed by a young woman from Michigan who was a teaching assistant in 2006. Her information has proven to be reliable and priceless in terms of reducing my stress levels and helping me get ideas for my own time abroad. Hopefully I will be able to get my site published and can provide good information for other people trying to get out in the world and have great experiences too.
So if you know anything about website publishing or good companies to go through please let me know!
Also, since this is my first time to Europe I posted a poll asking where I should make sure to visit while I'm in Europe, so please vote too!
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