This month is a special newsletter as I am heading off to Europe for several weeks on a speaking tour and will be gone through mid-May.  While I am gone, I wanted to leave you with some information many of you would like to know I am sure.  Below are the answer to the most frequently asked questions concerning the trip and my day-to-day itinerary.  You can find these and current updates of how my trip is going on my blog. 

Frequently Asked Questions

When are you leaving?
I am leaving on the morning of Friday, April 8th to arrive in London on the morning of April 9th. I return late in the evening on Tuesday, May 17th. I am gone for a total of 5½ weeks.

Why are you going?
Last fall I was invited to take part in the annual conference of Quakers Uniting in Publications, the group that co-sponsored the Quaker Youth Book Project, to release Spirit Rising in the UK with my fellow editorial board member, Harriet Hart, and to speak on a poetry panel. Since going to the UK is such a big trip from the West Coast of the United States, I contacted several friends and their meetings to ask if they would like me to come talk about the book. The response was so enthusiastic that the trip quickly elongated to the current 5½ week itinerary.

What countries are you visiting?
England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and France. A day-by-day itinerary will be posted before I go.

Have you been there before?
I have never been to the European continent before, at least not outside of the airport in Amsterdam. I did visit the British Isles in 2001 for five weeks including Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. For the most part, I am going to entirely different places this time around.

Will you be blogging while you’re gone?
Yes! I am looking forward to posting videos and pictures while I’m gone in addition to sharing my experiences with you through words. In addition to my blog, I will also be posting for The Friends Journal on their website as well as writing two articles for them when I return. To help me with the blogging and photo archiving, The Friends Journal is sending me a Nikon Coolpix to borrow and take with me on the trip.

Are you going with someone?
Yes and no. I am traveling on my own from place to place but will be staying with Quaker friends nearly the entire time. They will be going with me to the talks and acting as elders and cultural translators. On a few of the train trips, a friend will even be traveling with me.

Aren’t you nervous traveling on your own?
No, I am not. Europe is generally a very safe to travel and I have traveled before on my own, in England and Kenya as well as in the United States. Many people speak English there and I will enjoy the cultural experience when they don’t.

Where are you staying?
For the most part, I am staying with friends I have traveled with in Kenya and with participants of the 2010 Quaker Youth Pilgrimage to whom I spoke last summer. For two nights, I am staying at Swarthmoor Hall, a famous Quaker historical site that is now a bed and breakfast up in the north of England for some rest in the midst of all the traveling.

How are you paying for it?
Grants are paying for the majority of the trip including transportation, food, lodging, and my living expenses while I’m gone, among other things, to enable me to publicize the book and talk about writing. These grants include the Obadiah Brown Fund, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s International Outreach Grant, Northwest Yearly Meeting’s Youth Opportunity Grant, the Margaret Fell Fund, and generous contributions from The Friends Journal and a few personal friends. I am paying for everything else including any entertainment I partake of while there.

What are you taking with you?
Not much. I am of the persuasion it is best to travel light, easier to get from place to place and less to keep track of, so I like going with one backpack for all my belongings and a day pack to take with me when I go out. This is very doable. I have traveled in this way to the British Isles for five weeks in 2001 and three weeks in Kenya in 2009. I get better at it every time. It is the best way to travel.

What are you looking forward to?
The highlight list is extensive as you can imagine. Besides the obvious highlights of seeing friends, here are some experiences I am really excited about:
• Leading the workshop “Writing as the Authentic Self” at the QUIP conference.
• Meeting Friends from around Europe and the Middle East in Switzerland.
• Attending musicals in London’s West End. (I’m a musical nut!)
• Walking in reverence and awe at St. Paul’s.
• Touring the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
• Punting in the canals of Cambridge.
• Speaking on the poetry panel at the QUIP Conference.
• Exploring the Louvre in Paris.
• Climbing Pendle Hill.
• Visiting the Bronte Museum in the village of Hayworth.
• Seeing the bells of Notre Dame.
 

Itinerary

April 8, 2011 – Friday
Fly from Portland to London

April 9, 2011 – Saturday
Arrive in London in the late morning. Meet up with several members of the 2010 Quaker Youth Pilgrimage and attend my first British football game in Watford. There will be a dinner at the Colbeck’s with Friends that evening.

April 10, 2011 – Sunday
Attend meeting at Watford and speak about Spirit Rising afterwards. In the afternoon, either explore Hyde Park and Kennsington Palace or hang out with members of the Youth Pilgrimage. (Or both!)

April 11, 2011 – Monday
This is my first “tourist” day in London and Simon will be joining me. It’s a nice way to ease into the trip by having some fun days to explore one place. My plan is to pray at St. Paul’s Cathedral, then take the boat to Tate Britain to gaze at the art. In the evening, I am joining Emily to see a musical in the West End.

April 12, 2011 – Tuesday
This is my second “tourist” day in London and now that I have found my feet, I will be exploring on my own. I’ll start off the morning by being in awe of original works at the British Library then explore the art in the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery. I’ll then get outside and walk up Charring Cross Road nipping into the used bookstores. (Yes, for me, this is definitely a tourist destination!) In the evening, I want to go see “The Wizard of Oz” in which Michael Crawford is performing LIVE. Yes, that’s right. I will get to see him perform LIVE! Tonight I’ll be staying at Hetty’s flat.

April 13, 2011 – Wednesday
Today I am off to Waterloo Station to catch the train out to Hampton Court where I will explore the grounds to my heart’s content. Arriving back in London, in the afternoon I will then head toward Charring Cross Station and take a train the other direction out to Greenwich where I will stand over both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. In the evening, I will be attending the Friends meeting at Westminster.

April 14, 2011 – Thursday
This morning starts really early as I catch the Eurostar shortly after seven to Brussels. There I will meet John at the Friends International Center. We will go out to lunch and then he will show me around the city including the main city square which I understand to be quite spectacular. In the late afternoon, I will take a train to Delft where I will be staying with my friend Vivian and his family.

April 15, 2011 – Friday
While Vivian works, I will take the train an hour north to Amsterdam and explore the Anne Frank House, the Van Gough Museum, and perhaps a canal tour.

April 16, 2011 – Saturday
Vivian will join me today and we’ll explore more of Amsterdam together including taking a bus outside the city to see the Corrie Ten Boom House and then walking along the canals.

April 17, 2011 – Sunday
On Palm Sunday we will be heading to the nearby city Der Hague, the capital of the United Nations. After the Friends Meeting there, I will be speaking on Spirit Rising. Afterwards, we will walk around Der Hague and that night, I’ll be staying with my friend Marielke and her fiance.

April 18, 2011 – Monday
Marielke and I will be taking the train to where she lives in Dusseldorf, Germany. While Marielke works, I’ll be exploring on my own.

April 19, 2011 – Tuesday
Today I will be taking a train south for a day trip to Cologne to explore the city and walk along the Rhine River.

April 20, 2011 – Wednesday
I will continue exploring the Rhine River area in Germany within a day’s trip of Dusseldorf. In the late afternoon, Marielke and I take a train south to Herzberg, Switzerland for the Europe and Middle East Young Adult Friends Annual Spring Gathering.

April 21, 2011 – Thursday
The conference doesn’t actually start until the evening so we will be spending the day getting to know the other participants.

April 22, 2011 – Friday
I am speaking this morning at the conference on my personal testimony, how I live out my faith, using Spirit Rising as the centerpiece. The rest of the day will be spent attending the conference.

April 23, 2011 – Saturday
Today we will be following the conference schedule including working on presentations within our small groups and going hiking in the afternoon with a social evening that night.

April 24, 2011 – Sunday – Happy Easter! HE IS RISEN!!!
We finish the conference in the morning and after lunch, I catch the train through Basel onto Paris where I will be staying for the next few days. Jeanne, the clerk of France Yearly Meeting, will meet me at the train station.

April 25, 2011 – Monday
I am spending the day at the Louvre Museum exploring its galleries and trying to figure out why Mona Lisa’s smile is so intriguing. In the late afternoon, I’ll take a boat tour on the Siene.

April 26, 2011 – Tuesday
This is my ambitious day touring Paris. I’ll start out exploring the neighborhoods along the Siene then reverently walk through Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame Cathedral. I then am longing to see Opera Garnier, the setting for The Phantom of the Opera. After that, I will see the Place de la Concorde where all the aristocrats got beheaded during the French Revolution then walk along the Champs-Elysees, a main street in Paris leading to the Arc de Triumph where I will overlook the city. To end the day, I will ride up to the top of the Eifel Tower. In the evening, I may be meeting with some of the Friends there (with the help of a translator!).

April 27, 2011 – Wednesday
Versailles is the highlight of the day, the opulent palace outside the city limits. Back in Paris, I will seek out the treasures of the Orsay Museum and the Rodin Museum, a museum dedicated to my favorite sculptor. In the evening, I may attend a ballet.

April 28, 2011 – Thursday
This morning I take the Eurostar back under the English Channel to London where I will tour Friends House in London, saying hi to my friends there, and then take the train up to Woodbrooke in Birmingham for the Quakers Uniting in Publications Conference. I am meeting up with Ben Pink Dandelion for tea and then the conference starts that night. For the first plenary session, I am on a “Panel of Quaker Poets.”

April 29, 2011 – Friday
Today the conference continues with workshops, free writing time, and afternoon tea.

April 30, 2011 – Saturday
After our morning meeting for worship, I am leading a workshop on “Writing as the Authentic Self” a new workshop I am creating. After morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea, with business in between, I’ll be listening to a panel on publishing and technology with an evening session that night.

May 1, 2011 – Saturday
Today are some fantastic workshops, more writing time, and more tea! After an open mike and dinner, Harriet and I are leading the UK release of Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices.

May 2, 2011 – Monday
The conference finishes up this morning after concluding business, tea, and lunch. I then catch a train to the north of England to Ulverston where I will walk to Swarthmoor Hall, one of the earliest Quaker historical sites, also now a bed and breakfast. It is here I will be taking a rest from the road and some time for quiet relaxation and walking.

May 3, 2011 – Tuesday
My only plan for the day is walking in the English countryside.

May 4, 2011 – Wednesday
After breakfast and a lazy morning, I am taking the train from Ulverston to Kendal to see the famous Quaker Tapestries. Carole often used pictures of them in her lectures at seminary so I am looking forward to seeing them for myself. From Kendal I am heading to Burley Park, just outside of Leeds to meet Rhiannon, one of our contributors for Spirit Rising.

May 5, 2011 – Thursday
Rhiannon and I, or just me if she needs to work, will be heading to the village of Hayworth to see the Bronte Museum where the Bronte sisters wrote several of the classics of English literature. Though Charlotte didn’t write Jane Eyre here, the story is one of my all time favorite books. In the evening I will be speaking on Spirit Rising at the local Friends Meeting House in Leeds.

May 6, 2011 – Friday
I am heading out in the morning via train to meet up with Hetty in Manchester. We will be staying with friends of hers in Clitheroe and explore the area together.

May 7, 2011 – Saturday
Today Hetty and I are climbing Pendle Hill, a pilgrimage for Quakers where George Fox saw the flaming sword. A trip like this to England is incomplete without it.

May 8, 2011 – Sunday
Hetty and I are going to meeting in Lancaster where I will be speaking on Spirit Rising. In the afternoon, we are exploring the city before taking the train together back to London where I will stay overnight.

May 9, 2011 – Monday
I’m joining a tour that goes out from London west to Stonehenge and then onto Bath. In Bath, I will depart the tour and head to Christine’s house where I will be staying. I will then spend the rest of the day exploring Bath including the cathedral and the gathering rooms.

May 10, 2011 – Tuesday
I will continue exploring Bath today in such places as the Royal Crescent and the Jane Austen museum. In the evening I am speaking at Bath Monthly Meeting about Spirit Rising.

May 11, 2011 – Wednesday
A morning train is first on the schedule taking me back to London. In the afternoon I will attend a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and an evening show in the West End.

May 12, 2011 – Thursday
This morning I am taking an early train east to Cambridge to stay with my friend Simon (different Simon than before) and his family. Seeing the colleges there and punting in the canals is on the top of my list for the day.

May 13, 2011 – Friday
After a relaxed morning with Simon’s family, I am taking the train south to Lewes, near the southern coast. George and his family will be waiting for me and will show me around the area.

May 14, 2011 – Saturday
The annual arts festival is going full swing in Brighton so we will be spending the day there walking around and seeing the sights. In the evening I will be speaking to Lewes Friends Meeting about Spirit Rising.

May 15, 2011 – Sunday
The morning will be spent worshiping with Brighton Meeting and then I’ll talk with them about Spirit Rising. After hanging out with George and his family for the day, I’ll head back up to London.

May 16, 2011 – Monday
Today I’ll spend in London seeing anything I have greatly wanted to see but haven’t had the chance and decompressing a bit. In the evening, I’ll catch one last show in the West End.

May 17, 2011 – Tuesday
Fly home to Portland in the morning, arrive late in the evening.