Time is on my side...
I've been awake for a very long time now after getting only about three hours of sleep. I left the "hotel" at about 4:15 this morning to walk myself to Amsterdam Centraal to catch the 5:35 train to catch my 7:00 flight from AMS to LGW. Now, I'm sitting on an expensive pay internet computer in Gatwick awaiting my 1:00 flight to Raleigh. I've been here since 7:00 GMT and it's now only 9:10. I've already managed to finish up Bratislava in my journal (lots of catching up to do even though I've been chipping away for quite some time already) and did a little candy shopping for a certain someone. Successful, btw.
I am sooooo reinvigorated about my life and the world in general right now. I'm exhausted, but I can't wait to do this again. It's almost as if I've been dreaming for the last nine days, or as if my normal life is a dream and I've just woken up... the trip far surpassed my expectations in every way possible, and though I have no idea how much I spent, I would do it over again and spend triple if I had to. I feel so sorry for people who aren't open to the possibility of travel - think of what they're missing! I literally cannot imagine my life without it, though I suppose I don't have to - all I really need to do is look at a lot of the people I went to high school with... Not having the opportunity to travel is one thing, but just choosing not to - choosing to do the same thing every year appalls me. I'll be the first to admit that I love routine and am prone to falling into one myself, but I also believe in forcing oneself to be uncomfortable - to step outside one's normal world - to shake things up a little. I've done many things in my life that I was terrified of doing, and I've never regretted just taking the bull by the horns and doing it. If nothing else, you can learn so much about yourself from doing such things. People, get out there and travel! You've no idea what you're missing.
I'm trying to find things to be excited about for when I get home so that I don't fall into a post-trip funk. I mean, I can't drink in the street or at lunch, and the cafe scene at home (meaning in the US) is either non-existant or lame and fake. And, ummm, I actually have to work. Not cool. But I'm excited about trivia and shooting pool/playing poker with Willow and watching movies and goofing off with Kim. I'll be thrilled to get back to my washing machine and my bed and my own bathroom. I don't really want to have to drive, but we all know that I really love to drive, so I'll adjust to that pretty quickly...
But back to the trip... The van Gogh was great, but I don't recommend going to the Rijksmuseum until the renovations are complete. It's ten Euro for a very, very small museum, and most of that is just old-ass Dutch paintings. I mean, some of it was cool, but there's only so much Vermeer and Rembrandt that I can take before I go into museum fog and lose interest. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad I went, but the van Gogh is also under renovation right now and still fucking blew it out of the water.
Amsterdam has the best falafel on the planet, and I think I ate it every day I was there at some point or another. I will totally miss that as well... I mean, yes, we have falafel, but we don't come anywhere close to the number of toppings you can add on top of it. My god.
I've been promising pictures, and I'm still promising them... probably more early this week. I'm thinking of setting up an account somewhere to manage them, but I'll post that for you if I do. Hopefully Rob and Lady will post some soon, too. (I can't believe you won't let me put you on here, Ladypants - you are so cute!)
Okay, long post that probably isn't so interesting. Let me run, kids. See you soon! I'll be on your side of the pond in only a few hours.
I am sooooo reinvigorated about my life and the world in general right now. I'm exhausted, but I can't wait to do this again. It's almost as if I've been dreaming for the last nine days, or as if my normal life is a dream and I've just woken up... the trip far surpassed my expectations in every way possible, and though I have no idea how much I spent, I would do it over again and spend triple if I had to. I feel so sorry for people who aren't open to the possibility of travel - think of what they're missing! I literally cannot imagine my life without it, though I suppose I don't have to - all I really need to do is look at a lot of the people I went to high school with... Not having the opportunity to travel is one thing, but just choosing not to - choosing to do the same thing every year appalls me. I'll be the first to admit that I love routine and am prone to falling into one myself, but I also believe in forcing oneself to be uncomfortable - to step outside one's normal world - to shake things up a little. I've done many things in my life that I was terrified of doing, and I've never regretted just taking the bull by the horns and doing it. If nothing else, you can learn so much about yourself from doing such things. People, get out there and travel! You've no idea what you're missing.
I'm trying to find things to be excited about for when I get home so that I don't fall into a post-trip funk. I mean, I can't drink in the street or at lunch, and the cafe scene at home (meaning in the US) is either non-existant or lame and fake. And, ummm, I actually have to work. Not cool. But I'm excited about trivia and shooting pool/playing poker with Willow and watching movies and goofing off with Kim. I'll be thrilled to get back to my washing machine and my bed and my own bathroom. I don't really want to have to drive, but we all know that I really love to drive, so I'll adjust to that pretty quickly...
But back to the trip... The van Gogh was great, but I don't recommend going to the Rijksmuseum until the renovations are complete. It's ten Euro for a very, very small museum, and most of that is just old-ass Dutch paintings. I mean, some of it was cool, but there's only so much Vermeer and Rembrandt that I can take before I go into museum fog and lose interest. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad I went, but the van Gogh is also under renovation right now and still fucking blew it out of the water.
Amsterdam has the best falafel on the planet, and I think I ate it every day I was there at some point or another. I will totally miss that as well... I mean, yes, we have falafel, but we don't come anywhere close to the number of toppings you can add on top of it. My god.
I've been promising pictures, and I'm still promising them... probably more early this week. I'm thinking of setting up an account somewhere to manage them, but I'll post that for you if I do. Hopefully Rob and Lady will post some soon, too. (I can't believe you won't let me put you on here, Ladypants - you are so cute!)
Okay, long post that probably isn't so interesting. Let me run, kids. See you soon! I'll be on your side of the pond in only a few hours.
posted by Sally O'Malley at 3:14 AM
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