12 (pairs of knickers)
Deep breath. This was not a blog I wanted to write. In the last month I have been spending time with someone who refers to "future me". Pile of dishes to wash ? Future me problem. Using all the hot water ? Future me can deal with that. I've adopted this phrase, and have been referring to my departure as a Future Me issue; she can cross that bridge. Moreover, I've been thinking that maybe that moment wouldn't actually come around... I kept that little spark alive of perhaps something radical would happen whereby Uncle Sam offered me a no-strings citizenship, job, life Stateside. For someone who has a weakness for living one foot in the future - counting down days, always aware of dates, daydreaming away the present - I have been incredibly in the moment during these 2 months (occasionally to a fault...visa for Canada ? Flights for tomorrow ? Oops.) For the most part this has proven rewarding, satisfying and much healthier. But it also means that when days like today actually come, I'm taken aback: home time.
What can I take away from this trip ? Eesh. Literally, I will be taking home a few extra kg of I don't know what. My bag seems to have grown from clothing I'm "looking after", postcards I never sent (sorry everyone), smuggled food goods, rocks and shells I collected from the east to west. But I'm taking home a lot more than this. I've spent a lot of time writing here, writing in my diary, and yabbering away about how bowled over I have been by American hospitality. In my life's travels I've been welcomed through many a place, by many a people, but gee whizz do these guys take the biscuit. There's welcoming, and then there's "take my car keys, my fridge is your fridge, borrow all the underwear you need" welcoming. I am someone who when the phrase 'make yourself at home' is uttered, I will go the mile. I've stayed at just one hostel for a couple of nights out of 60-something nights. Every other moment I have stayed in real homes. When I left the UK, people asked what I wanted to see the most in the states was, and my answer was always the same: seeing what American life is like. It would be arrogant (and a lie) to say I didn't want to see the Big Deal Tourist Sites - of course I did. But the greatest source of fascination for me has been taking a peak into day-to-day life here. And I've been lucky enough to get a glimpse of that. The ins and outs of visiting hospitals and clinics, weekly food shopping at local markets, having the neighbours round for drinks, collecting the eggs from the chickens, watering the garden, getting the car fixed, gearing up for an interview, returning library books. In our own worlds these are mundane and regular activities, but as an alien they are novel and curious. I've also never enjoyed travelling alone SO much. Of course I've rarely been by myself, but that's a different thing. I've been able to move on (or stay stuck) to my heart's content. All those small decisions - tacos or pizza ? Park or cinema ? Bus or train ? - add up to a big trip that has been entirely MINE, and there's something truly satisfying about that.
This comes to you from Vancouver, a 24hr stop over that leaves me enough time to tell you - Canada is definitely up there on places I need to (we all need to) explore. I was speaking with someone recently and used that throw away phrase "just getting it out of the system", which I've been slinging around for the last 8 years in reference to travelling the world. "Just using these 'young' years to really get the travel bug out of the system" I'd tell those anxious-looking folk as they raised their traditional eyebrows like I'd already passed my vagabonding time. And then I realised that, for better or worse, I don't think this is something I can get out of my system. It is my system. In fact, contrary to the desired trajectory, the more I travel, the greater the desire gets to continue. So I won't be stopping for some time !
And finally, in long conclusion, the answer is 12. 12 pairs of knickers is prime. I'll admit, I may have lost a pair or two (enjoy, Universe) and some MIGHT have been turned inside out on desperate days. But this was more due to bad planning and laziness than anything. These knickers have crossed 15 states, stayed in 19 beds ('bed' being a generous term), seen the Atlantic and the Pacific, ridden bikes and buses and trains and trucks and tractors and planes and cars and vans. They have been up mountains, round lakes, through forests, along beaches and highways and up tracks that were definitely considered trespassing. Naughty knickers. But I pack them up for the final time knowing they'll be back in the US before they see the grave of knickers gone-by. Thanks smalls, and thanks readers ! See you on the other side.
What can I take away from this trip ? Eesh. Literally, I will be taking home a few extra kg of I don't know what. My bag seems to have grown from clothing I'm "looking after", postcards I never sent (sorry everyone), smuggled food goods, rocks and shells I collected from the east to west. But I'm taking home a lot more than this. I've spent a lot of time writing here, writing in my diary, and yabbering away about how bowled over I have been by American hospitality. In my life's travels I've been welcomed through many a place, by many a people, but gee whizz do these guys take the biscuit. There's welcoming, and then there's "take my car keys, my fridge is your fridge, borrow all the underwear you need" welcoming. I am someone who when the phrase 'make yourself at home' is uttered, I will go the mile. I've stayed at just one hostel for a couple of nights out of 60-something nights. Every other moment I have stayed in real homes. When I left the UK, people asked what I wanted to see the most in the states was, and my answer was always the same: seeing what American life is like. It would be arrogant (and a lie) to say I didn't want to see the Big Deal Tourist Sites - of course I did. But the greatest source of fascination for me has been taking a peak into day-to-day life here. And I've been lucky enough to get a glimpse of that. The ins and outs of visiting hospitals and clinics, weekly food shopping at local markets, having the neighbours round for drinks, collecting the eggs from the chickens, watering the garden, getting the car fixed, gearing up for an interview, returning library books. In our own worlds these are mundane and regular activities, but as an alien they are novel and curious. I've also never enjoyed travelling alone SO much. Of course I've rarely been by myself, but that's a different thing. I've been able to move on (or stay stuck) to my heart's content. All those small decisions - tacos or pizza ? Park or cinema ? Bus or train ? - add up to a big trip that has been entirely MINE, and there's something truly satisfying about that.
This comes to you from Vancouver, a 24hr stop over that leaves me enough time to tell you - Canada is definitely up there on places I need to (we all need to) explore. I was speaking with someone recently and used that throw away phrase "just getting it out of the system", which I've been slinging around for the last 8 years in reference to travelling the world. "Just using these 'young' years to really get the travel bug out of the system" I'd tell those anxious-looking folk as they raised their traditional eyebrows like I'd already passed my vagabonding time. And then I realised that, for better or worse, I don't think this is something I can get out of my system. It is my system. In fact, contrary to the desired trajectory, the more I travel, the greater the desire gets to continue. So I won't be stopping for some time !
And finally, in long conclusion, the answer is 12. 12 pairs of knickers is prime. I'll admit, I may have lost a pair or two (enjoy, Universe) and some MIGHT have been turned inside out on desperate days. But this was more due to bad planning and laziness than anything. These knickers have crossed 15 states, stayed in 19 beds ('bed' being a generous term), seen the Atlantic and the Pacific, ridden bikes and buses and trains and trucks and tractors and planes and cars and vans. They have been up mountains, round lakes, through forests, along beaches and highways and up tracks that were definitely considered trespassing. Naughty knickers. But I pack them up for the final time knowing they'll be back in the US before they see the grave of knickers gone-by. Thanks smalls, and thanks readers ! See you on the other side.
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