Sunday, August 12, 2012

on saying everything

Whenever I get back from traveling, I feel this overwhelming sense of panic. It's a combination of wanting to write down everything that happened and not really feeling like I can discuss anything adequately. In the past year and a half, I've been to Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Peru, and various American cities: Miami (four times), Boston, New Orleans, Georgia (Savannah, Atlanta, Dahlonega), Alabama, Tennessee (Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga), the Great Smoky Mountains, and South Carolina (Charleston). And I've only written about Miami, once.

Not to mention, I forgot what my blog even looked like until I just checked. That's the first problem. The second problem is that when a lot of things happen to me, I can't process it all. I can't look through all my pictures. I'm glad they're there. But I don't even know where to begin picking out the ones I really like. This is simply a lack of discipline. Third of all, my thought process goes something like this (numbered for clarity purposes):
  1. Wow, it's crazy that none of the countries we went to (or even passed through- i.e., Slovakia) use the Euro. As a result, we got to buy chocolate at the airport with the leftover Czech koruna. (Sidenote: Chocolate with leftover currency is not just a policy, it's a ritual). 
  2. I should eat some of that chocolate.
  3. Wow, even though I can get Toblerone in America, it tastes super delicious! This seems like it's really bad for my teeth though (as the "almond nougat" is getting stuck in my teeth).
  4. Perhaps this chocolate is what contributed to my gums hurting in Prague.
  5. No, wait. I bought this chocolate at the airport on the way home from Prague. That can't be it.
  6. I probably shouldn't have ignored this gum issue. Aren't there super horrifying gum diseases?
  7. All I have to do is touch my face and see if it still hurts my gums.
  8. It was pretty smart of me to realize that it was my gums, and not my face, that hurt when I was touching my cheek.
  9. No, it took me like a whole day to figure that out. That seems not too smart.
  10. Cool, my gums don't hurt too much anymore. Note to self: It appears to be okay to ignore any physical pain in hopes that it will go away.
  11. Note to self again: Scratch that last note. That was not good advice.
  12. I'm pretty sure my improved gum health means I should be rewarded with a burrito tomorrow. Deal.
And that's how it goes. So you know, there are some thoughts about Prague, but I mean, I could have this sort of cycle of thoughts about pretty much anything. All this to say that I'm going to be doing a better job from now on writing about my past two months. I have about 8 days before school starts and plenty of reflections, so I'm hoping to get the thoughts and pictures together.

[Here I have a picture from almost all the cities I visited. Missing: Kutná Hora. Pictured in order: Warsaw (at Resort Cafe), Zurich, Gdańsk, Poznań, Zakopane, Krakow, Prague, Budapest]