Hello world

Dear friends, family, anonymous internet trolls and spambots,

Welcome to homebound, the latest in a number of attempts to start a blog (and actually keep it going). Over the next few months  I plan to write about my travels, sharing the best from the road with you as I go.

So much to say and so little time, so I’ll keep it brief for now.  I’m a 22-year old from Malta who’s been largely based in Maastricht, The Netherlands for the past three years while completing my Bachelors degree in International Relations (technically in Liberal Arts and Sciences, but never mind the title). As of a few weeks ago, those three years have come to an end and I can now consider myself a Maastricht University graduate. With that chapter closed, I’ve finally got some more time on my hands to head back out into the world.

Don’t get me wrong – the past three years have been good ones. Especially now that uni life’s over, at least for the time being, I can really look back at it and appreciate its best parts. Truth be told, I didn’t have it too bad either. Studying abroad for three years has its perks, especially in a place like Maastricht. Besides being a quaint little city in itself, it is also, as the university and city have adopted as a convenient selling point, at the heart of Europe. Maastricht may not be the most dynamic of cities, and it may be miles away from anything else going on in The Netherlands, (just kidding Limburg, you’re great). Yet it’s also five minutes from Belgium, an hour’s bus ride from Germany, and best of all close to two of Ryanair’s largest bases in Eindhoven and Charleroi.

 

Back to my original point – I can’t say I haven’t travelled the past few years. Just a few weeks ago while clearing out my room, I came across the following pile of signs from three years’ worth of hitching rides.

 

 

Yet so far, travelling’s always been something restricted to the two months of summer break or something which had to be crammed into a long weekend. And that unfortunately doesn’t fit too well with my idea of travelling, which knows no time constraints and prefers to take things at a slower pace, really seeing a place and experiencing all that it’s got to offer.

I’d written a post on another blog (one of those earlier attempts I mentioned…) outlining my travel philosophy. The blog itself was sadly short-lived, but that first post remains a good summary of the way I look at travelling, and why I set off on the seemingly crazy trips I do.

All that brings me to where I am now. Without any university constraints and no concrete plans for the future besides heading back ‘home’ to Malta eventually (hence the blog’s title), I find myself twenty-four hours away from setting off on one of the biggest (and depending on whom you ask, craziest), even if not necessarily the longest, of all trips so far.

More on that in the post to follow, but for now – thanks for reading if you made it this far! It’s great to have you here, so don’t remain anonymous! Leave a comment below to say hey, or follow the contact link on the top menu to write a message. Alternatively, you can write to me directly at chris@homebound.co . There’s also a subscribe feature on the left-hand menu – if you submit your email address, I’ll be sending digests of recent posts every once in a while.

Peace,
Chris