The Trip

I thought that going to Europe by myself would change my life. I went after it with a single-minded focus because it was just something that I had to do at that point in my life. Most of February and March was spent in a haze of 'The Europe trip.'

The trip is over. I'm back where I was a month ago. Doing the same work, and maybe even being the same person that I was a month ago. I don't want to ask the cliched existential question of 'What was the point of all of this?' But, there is a part of me that feels a little bit let down. 

I'm not sure what I expected to happen. Maybe have a bit of a fling, maybe a three-week journey of self-discovery? I did discover a few things about myself though:

1) I can survive with less than 100 ML of water a day

2) I'm not a friendly or open person. Now, this may not come as a surprise to people who know me. But, I always thought that I was a different person when I traveled. You know, there's regular Joze, and then there's travel Joze. And, travel Joze is really friendly and free-sprited and willing to try new things. The first few days of my trip, I didn't really want to talk to anyone. I went on this walking tour with 20 other people, and I didn't really want to anyone. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself, and I needed a bit of time to get out of regular Joze mode. Because, by the end of the trip, on my last walking tour, I actually spoke to SO many people. Okay yeah, so that was a 'meh' self discovery point.

3) I LOVE living in cities. Italy was beautiful, and Rome was nice enough. But, I was in Paris for four hours when I thought " I HAVE to come back to this city." and "I want to live here." It scared me more than any other place I've been to, but it was my favorite stop.

Can you imagine living in a city as beautiful as this?

4) Antonio Goudi. Have you guys heard of Antonio Goudi before? I hadn't before I went to Barcelona. He's a brilliant, mad scientist, genius, and I think his head was just full of candyland marvels. Because there's no other way to describe his buildings. I am now a fan.

This was just a part of the roof of one of my favourite Goudi buildings. The picture doesn't do it justice. But, you really can't see this from the street at all. Imagine what the street-facing structures looked like.

5) It is completely okay if you don't see all the famous sites. I wasn't in Paris for a very long time, and I was worried that I wasn't going to see all the sites that I wanted to. So, I decided to prioritise. Okay, here are the sites that I will see this time. And, here are the ones that I'll see when I get back. Because I knew, without a doubt, that I was going back to Paris.

6) I didn't become a nervous mess. I was really worried before I left for the trip. I was worried that I would get lost, my bag would get stolen, and I'd get flustered because I couldn't figure things out. I couldn't figure things out in almost every city I went. In fact, when I landed in Paris, I wandered around like a headless chicken trying to figure out how I could get to my Metro stop. (This was, of course, before I fell in love with the city) But, I asked around, and I figured things out. And, I feel a whole lot stronger and better about myself because of that.