let's talk about travel
on packing light, scamming state officials, and yearning
Okay I’m going to preface this post by saying that I am TIRED of opening social media and seeing everyone and their mother traveling around Europe this summer, which of course makes me a massive hypocrite because I am 1) traveling around Europe this summer and 2) posting about it on social media.
But I have something they don’t have, which is time. I have been away from the US for nearly six months. I have a deep and desperate craving for ice water, Diet Coke, and widespread AC that is DIFFERENT from their deep and desperate craving for all of those things after a mere week or two abroad.
Mine is feral. Mine is like a small white dog who loves Cheese Whiz more than life itself and would launch itself from any high surface to obtain the cheese. Mine is WORSE AND DIFFERENT.
And that’s my opening argument for why you should continue to read this post, about me, a Basic Young Woman traveling around Europe. Welcome to:
So what have I been up to in the past couple of weeks? A lot! I’ve been to five different countries and eleven(ish) cities. I’ve take countless buses and trains and one plane. I’ve learned how to say hello/goodbye/please/thank you/bathroom/sorry/excuse me in four different languages.
I’ve eaten pasta and pizza and pastries and cheese and bread and once rabbit. I’ve seen cows and sheep and babies and dogs and a few cockroaches. I’ve been inside lots of churches and a couple museums. I’ve seen works of art older than the United States.
I’ve slept in many hostels (all un-airconditioned, see!!!!) and worn the same shirt [redacted] days in a row. I’ve been tired and hungry and hot and over-caffeinated and awed and silly and sore.
And mostly I’ve learned a lot. Here’s just some of the things:
YOU DON’T NEED ALL THAT STUFF!!! I packed seemingly very little for this trip: five shirts, two dresses, denim shorts, a pair of pajamas, a workout top, my UNMENTIONABLES, some medication, toiletries, random flotsam and jetsam (did you know there’s a difference?) like extra film for my camera, a portable charger, etc. etc. I thought that this was traveling light. Except for actually my backpack is heavy AF and I haven’t even worn one of the shirts because you have to wear a bra with it and it’s so hot everywhere we go that the thought of putting a bra on makes me want to die. So actually I could’ve ditched the shirt AND the bra. And now you know about some of the unmentionables.
You’re probably just hungry… There have been MANY times throughout this trip when I have been very close to committing a felony (at least in America). It starts approximately three to four hours after my last meal. I grow irritated and hot and upset. I feel TERRIBLE, like the world is out to get me. I consider lying down on the pavement and beginning to cry. And then I have a snack. And all of a sudden the urge to stab something violently dissipates… anyway this could alternatively be titled “always keep a granola bar on hand.”
Siestas exist for a reason. It is so hot in Europe right now. Like the sun feels evil on my skin. I sweat going downstairs while INDOORS. And so I have learned that it is okay to go lie down in the middle of the day. The one statue in the one plaza you’ve been dying to see will still be there later. Nobody will buy every single postcard in Florence if you want to take a quick nap. You are not ‘wasting’ your vacation by recharging for a little bit while it is literally 101 degrees fahrenheit outside. In fact one could argue you are better integrating with the local culture. Plus everything is closed anyway.
People have weird thoughts and opinions on America. I cannot explain the strange mix of joy/horror/fascination that enters a European’s eyes when you tell them that you are from the US. They turn into beady-eyed apex predators hunting down your opinion on “everything happening over there.” They want to know if things are as bad/good as they see on TV. They want to tell you about the single time they went to New York City and really loved/hated it. It is strange and humbling to hear other people talk about the country you come from, no matter how you personally feel about it.
Lying is okay (sometimes). One awesome thing about having lived in Spain is that I was technically considered an EU citizen for the duration of my job. That job is over, but I still have my identification card, and it turns out there are lotssssss of discounts on museums and other tourist attractions for EU citizens. It also turns out that many workers at these museums do not actually look at the expiration date (similar to when I was checking IDs at work and it took me longer than two point three seconds to find the expiration date so I would just panic and assume that any young person bold enough to hand me an ID was 21. or at least had an ID that said they were 21). So yes, I have lied to the Uffizi Gallery and the Naples Archaeological Museum and I’m not sorry!
Put down the damn phone (Google maps). I will be the first to admit that I pray at the altar of Google maps. I used Google maps when I started driving to high school at sixteen years old because I was genuinely afraid I would take a wrong turn for the first couple of weeks. Sometimes I check Google maps on routes I travel daily just in case I’ve actually been taking a much longer and more inefficient route for years and didn’t know it. BUT. Sometimes it’s better to put your map away (digital or no) and just get lost. Especially in Europe, lots of smaller shops/restaurants don’t exist on Google maps or their hours are inaccurate. Plus it’s way more fun to literally “stumble upon” a hidden gem rather than googling it and pretending you did.
You’ll probably want to go home at one point. Sorry, I think anyone who hasn’t had this thought while traveling is lying! Traveling is a wonderful privilege and you will experience SO MUCH of the world. It is not mutually exclusive to also miss home and comfortable experiences like your own bed, your dogs, home-cooked food, etc. You can romanticize tiny Italian towns and espressos and glasses of wine and mountains as much as you like, but I will always have a special place in my heart for that moment when you come home after a long trip and you can really smell the scent of your house and even though you’ve never noticed it before it’s somehow the best smell ever. That and a bed with comfortable pillows (wtf is up with these floppy, singular pillows everywhere in Europe???? what ever happened to neck support????)
People are really just people no matter where you go. People who smile at little dogs and babies. People who roll their eyes when the girl in front of you in the supermarket forgets tampons. People who trip over their own feet and look up sheepishly to see if you noticed. People who stare wonderstruck at a painting they’ve only ever seen on TV. People who eat sandwiches on the train and throw little breadcrumbs at pigeons and give you sprigs of basil from their windowsill. People who offer you a light and hold the elevator doors open and sit next to you on a cramped bus.
Saludos to naps on public transport and subbing Coke Zeros!
okay so pretty much you are the people from the snickers ads who freak out until they eat one. got it