"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love." Ernst Hemingway
Kelsey has been on the ball with the posts for this blog, I've been lagging but since I had a mokka this afternoon I'm feeling a little bit of energy tonight to post one myself. Kelsey has been so sweet and sentimental with his posts that I feel a little bit of guilt typing this, but since this blog was meant to not only inform everyone back home of what we are up to but also maybe help someone out there plan their own trip, I thought I better get a bit personal. I love these people, a lot, as much as you can love actually. I think they are all the best people that ever there was, but I'm also a bit of an introvert I'm learning AND I miss my girlfriends. When one travels like this it isn't exactly a holiday. There is still laundry, still dishes to do and still meals to prepare, only you need to FIND the food in a strange place, in another language! Sometimes everyone is hungry and angry (hangry) and all I want to do is go to my room, except I'm on the street, in a strange place and I'm afraid of leaving them there. Also, I've experienced that the places we have been staying in are small, not much place to run to, and NO BATHTUBS! (My friends get me on this one) So while Kelsey plays scrabble with his kids I've been going to read...or sometimes I just lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling. Anyway, it's different, it's like moving to a new place every few days. I'm grateful for this opportunity, do not get me wrong, it's amazing and I'm loving it but it's overwhelming at this stage being together, this close, continuously.
Everything is working out though, as Kelsey said a while back "we make a good team" he is constantly worried about where we are going to stay and how to stretch the budget to last, and maybe we should get a European cell phone (communication with hostels etc has been difficult) and I'm wondering why I didn't bring more pencil crayons. I'm kidding, but I'm sure that's what he thinks sometimes! No, I'm worrying about the same things as him as well as about a million other things, from terrorists to tripping over the weird little stair on the tile downstairs in this sweet little doll house we are in, seriously I've done it three times, what if I break something? See? Worrying. Mostly though, for a person who is of a mostly anxious nature I think I'm doing ok, I think we are well fed, and our clothes are clean. I think between the two of us we will make it to our destination alright. For the record, I don't do all the dishes, or cook all the meals alone, we've been pretty much teaming up on that as well, but it's kind of my second nature to do those things. Anyway, consider carefully who you travel with, you won't all be as lucky as me, I've got the best travel partners.