It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that I have had trouble writing about the trip I returned from last week, but I’m surprised. I think today was the first day that I could categorically calm down, settle in, and have a good think about the first twenty days of 2019. Yesterday I tried to hand-wash a wool sweater I bought new before my trip, and it mostly worked, but if you put your nose in it, it still smells like Irish cigarettes. There might be a metaphor there.
I chronicled my adventures when I got to Glasgow, my second-to-last city. I might write part of them here sometime. In the middle of my trip I hit a lull and got sick, and had to obey my body’s requests for a good chunk of the time that I was traveling. My friend Dan says he also gets sick when he travels; my mom swears I got “travel tummy,” which would be cute despite the actualities of what it entailed. I am fine, today-- though my trip has changed my perspectives on drinking more than somewhat.
But! I enjoyed myself. I have a handful of photos from the Ricoh that I’ll share sporadically until I get my film photos processed. Last I checked I shot 12 of the 15 rolls I brought with me. I also somehow have five rolls from my trip home for Christmas. And still film in my fridge to shoot. A subtle resolution is to not run out of film again. This whole paragraph makes me smile.
Some things I learned:
-Always carry Benadryl, Imodium, and Advil when traveling, because where you are going may not have them. Also, baking soda is called bicarbonate of soda in the UK. Never figured that one out.
-There are Trump supporters in countries besides the US. I spoke to one such man in Dublin on my last night, who called CNN “The Cartoon News Network,” who has a strong theory that the earth is flat. This man I met, while misled, had distinctive reasons to feel entitled to his opinions, and though I left more deeply entrenched in my own, it made me realize how blinkered I have been. There are people like that all over New York. I have largely curated my understanding of the world around me and that’s a bit twisted.
-During my trip to the Cliffs of Moher, someone slipped and fell off the face of a cliff. I didn’t see it happen, but the police were there and someone from my tour group ended up being a witness. When I toured the Highlands a week later, I left my flat-soled sneakers at the hostel and wore my hiking boots instead.
-The historic Abbey Road zebra crossing is strikingly unexciting, and is an active street. unless you have someone to take your picture. My uncle Nick wants to get one of our whole family crossing at once.
-When you return from a two-week trip full of things you’ve never seen before, New York will open your eyes to its inconsistencies all over again. Every bus I took in Ireland and the UK had free wifi and outlets; the SBS in New York is only starting to catch up to that. But New York has its merits: the buskers don’t just play Irish trad, there is more than one flavor and style of food on any given city block, and despite being a city of travelers, very few people are just here incidentally. The city I live in is a city of purpose, and it’s easy to forget that when you’re immersed in it-- I am still figuring my purpose out, but I’m not giving that up anytime soon.