Formulation of the Hostel Environment Experiment

     The creation of this blog is just one of many acts of a selfish man.  This must be distinctly understood as I am that selfish soul and nothing good can come of this if I were not honest with you or myself.  It all began a few nights ago when my fiancée Ophelia and I were about to eat another Ramen noodle dinner.  We had gotten into yet another argument over our financial situation earlier that evening and we had just started to calm our nerves when a knock on the door roused our already anxious state.  A knock on the door is a dreadful sound when one is in debt.  We had stood frozen; awaiting the second rap to compel us to move, but all had remained silent until Ophelia finally exclaimed, “Oh for fuck’s sake,” as she moved to the front door of our little condo.  Taped to the door was a notice announcing the details of an auction that involved our home.  This of course was cause for another argument.  Frustration and despair had gotten the better of me and in the middle of this heated yelling match I let slip the dream of leaving everything behind for the open road.  Ophelia’s rage intensified with that outburst of mine and the only recourse I had in alleviating her agitated state and our situation was to include her in my dream of traveling somewhere far, far away.      Now I stated before that I am a selfish man and I wanted that fact to be understood completely for it is I who inadvertently put forth the idea of abandoning all for the road and it is I who formulated the rules governing this idea and it is also I who convinced my fiancée to agree upon its implementation.  I must now explain this idea and the rules that Ophelia and I have agreed to follow and how all this really serves me and my interests.  The idea or plan is for us to travel to London together where we will separate and forge our own paths in order to re-evaluate our relationship and our lives in general.  One might call this a test of our relationship and I would agree, but it is more than that.  Ophelia and I have already gone through some rough times due to the failing economy and that would have been enough to test any relationship, but we also need some time apart in a new environment to rid ourselves of all the stress and anxiety and fighting that threatens our future together.  Funding for this experiment will be limited obviously, so our accommodations will be restricted to youth hostels.  We do hope to have enough dough saved up to travel around Europe for at least six weeks and as the rules stipulate, we cannot contact one another for the duration of the trip, unless of course it is a matter of life and death.
     So how does all this serve me?  For one, I get the chance to indulge in my desire to travel, second, I get the chance to pause a moment to re-examine my life and relationship with Ophelia and thirdly, I get the chance to write about it.  Writing and traveling are my passions in life and this trip will give me the opportunity to combine the two to fulfill my aspirations of being an itinerant novelist.  Not to mention my desire to share the emotional ups and downs I will certainly face on the road as I contemplate my relationship with Ophelia and an unknown future.  These are the reasons behind the creation of this blog.  It is simply my attempt at revitalizing my passions by documenting this experiment in “real time” via this blog and other social networking sites.  It is my intent to be truthful about all that I do and see and feel and think in order to provide the reader with an honest account of my travels and the hostel environment.  I will be documenting this endeavor without Ophelia’s knowledge and I know there are those of you out there who believe this to be foolish as she is sure to catch wind of it, but it is a risk I am willing to take.