Sei, sette, otto; Nüün, zää, elf; Twaalf, dertien

Massive amounts of twittering has occurred (http://twitter.com/felcearto) and while the frequency of these travel posts isn't much different (or maybe it's better) than the frequency of my regular semester posts, I'm switching locations so often that it feels like it's been far longer than a week.

So… Amalfi area, Rome, Florence, Venice (Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto)
Then culture shock myself out of Italy through
Zurich (nüün, zää, elf), Amsterdam (twaalf, dertien), and tomorrow: Berlin!

And then?

Culture shock myself back to the U.S. on December 11th. I can't wait!

And since I'm arriving at LAX at night… methinks I'll request In-n-Out for my first meal back because I know there's one nearby.

No scoffing. The familiar holds a very strong pull after three and a half months of the unfamiliar.

I hate to admit how many times I've been tempted to go into a Starbucks or McDonalds or Burger King solely because I was tired of being uncomfortable or unsure about what to order or what to do.

Thus far, what have I learned?

That you should hold other people's advice very lightly, especially when it comes to whether or not they liked a city. A couple from Australia that I met in Rome back in August said they absolutely loved Venice and wished they had more time there. I didn't quite feel the same way… I ended up wasting a train reservation AND a night's payment at a crappy hostel so I could leave Venice a day early for Zurich. It's beautiful and all but I felt quite claustrophobic there. Plus I was left to wonder if real people actually lived there. Calling all local Venetians!

That I am very much a light person. As in, I need loads of daylight. And lots of sunlight. And at least a patch of blue sky. When it starts to get dark my body says it's time to wind down, even if it's only 4 PM. The sun being about 20 degrees above the horizon at noon here really screws with my head! Also, I love art with light flooding into darker areas. Not Caravaggio dark but something more subtle. I just like light.

That my ideal city has to have a good mix of city bustle and peaceful nature… something along the lines of Zurich… bustling train station, a short hop away, a peaceful park with trees sweeping over the river with swans and kayaks floating past… Also important is plenty of sitting and being and watching spots. Amsterdam has bustle and peaceful canals but the sitting spots are always wet. Dang wet winters!

That travelling alone isn't going to change one radically. (Though this assessment could very likely change once I get back to my home environment.) I still hate asking for help/directions and I still turn to maps and guidebooks first. I'm still very much a planner even if I did completely wing it for my first day in/to Rome. I still vacillate between wanting to be alone and wanting some sort of social contact… this is even more heightened now that every single person I come across is a stranger. I still don't like going places with people (meals being the one exception). Writing still calms me down, probably more so than before since writing/journaling is the one normal thing I can do no matter where I am. Sketching, surprisingly, has been added to this. Sometimes it works even better than writing because I'm focusing on something outside of my own head and on something within my location.

That traveling alone generally isn't that difficult. It was a nice progression from familiar to less familiar travel (e.g. starting in Italy and starting off in two cities where I had already been) which I never consciously planned but still worked out well. I haven't had to try my luck in a non Western country or in a place where English can't be spoken but I'll save that for the next adventure.

That I'm much more of a homebody than I ever realized. I like home. I like being in control and being comfortable (not material comforts but knowledge type comfort).

That figuring out the public transportation gives you the keys to the city. Once you know how to get places, suddenly the city opens up and you can go anywhere. Within reason. But still!

That traveling and sightseeing and walking all day is freaking tiring. Hence I'm an old lady with my sleep patterns and I am so ready to be in bed right now. G'night!