- Arrival on Sunday: I’m at a hotel near SeaTac having had a series of naps overnight in a gloriously comfortable bed. I didn’t quite think this through about the body still being on Europe time. I’ve been waking up every couple hours because my body says, why you sleepin at 1pm?
- Monday: I just slept from about 9:00pm to about 6:00am IN MY OWN TIME ZONE!
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Ty, who I met on the shuttle TO Seatac outbound, and gave me all sorts of tips … We exchanged numbers and I touched base a few times asking him questions … He sent me this at the end:
Well… of course you are exhausted. You’re spreading your wings in an effort to reach your greater potential. You’re putting energy into your own growth and self manifestation, which is directed towards the better good of you and the people around you and supporting your interaction with life on the bigger scale of things. that’s a good reason to be exhausted. It also fills your soul with so much more energy for all of the time and exploration ahead of you. It is so much more significant than being exhausted from jobs or relationships or “unhealthy compatible” life choices that drain the beauty and purpose of your life with no positive flow~
This is a good tired… you might be having tears inside and out but, they are sweet and not salty~
I am so proud of you in your courage and strength here…
There is so much beauty in you and your adventure… you will share that back even without trying… you’ve accomplished so much~!
I will probably be heading to Europe after the new year, and I will definitely be in Europe the month of July… If somehow you end up traveling there, it would be fun to rendezvous and go exploring for a day wherever
Yes, I receive those words 🙂 xoxo
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Thinking back … My best memories were with people. Serendipitous meetings.
Eva in Ljubljana.
Girl from Poland and Boy from Belgium in Charleroi. She is a music girl like me, and we rambled for minutes/hours and shared artists. HE could not believe someone from America would even know who Warhaus was … me: yeah. Warhaus is made of Maarten Devoldere, who I’ve been following for years via his Balthazar project. IYKYK.
Now I’m gonna go from the beginning … just stuff I remember.
Arriving in Dubrovnik was a bit chaotic but lovely. There were no other singles on the trip, which ended up being blessing/curse. I had a lovely room with a view of the harbor and cruise ships. This was probably my first OH MY GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M HERE mode.
We did the organized tour of Old Town Dubrovnik the next day. The wall around the city … Met Jewels from Port Angeles … a new old friend.
My best thing BY FAR was the day we were sorta on our own. I started walking from the hotel and there was a walkway/restaurant/promenade area. Two guys were singing … so of course I landed there. I talked to the waitress and/or bartender about how much I loved live music. She invited me to go to a show with her friends. I remember Laura, but the said it in such a more lovely way that was rolling …. aaallllllorrrrra .
There was literally nothing better than to be invited to see music. Seeing the music aside, this is where I meet the best people. The show was Elemental, who is apparently a big Croatian act. I concur. It was fabulous. Got home at 3am.
Life was dictated (in the best way) for a week or so. Be here. Get on the bus. OK. Yay. Learn history.
I checked with a friend who had lived in Croatia — He said Plitzvica National Park and Istria Peninsula. OK!
When the rest of the group went to Zagreb airport to fly out, I rented a car. Dude. it was like $8/day. I plugged in Plitzvica and enjoyed some of the most amazing scenery and driving vibe of my life. It is STILL earth-bending WHOA to realize that Google Maps abides big time. There was one point that I went to a mall in Zagreb to get a mirror, hair-dryer, and power bank.
BUT. yeah. I sat in the airport for a minute … not quite knowing what was next. I for sure had a moment of “WHAT HAVE I ACTUALLY DONE. WHAT AM I DOING?” … I pieced together that I needed to get to Italy. I sherpa’d my shit to the bus stop across from the airport, but then realized I could get an uber to the big bus station … THIS is what traveling in Europe IS — you figure out that major hubs, and then how you get there. People say, “oh, it’s so easy to travel … ” .. Yes, it is, but you need to know the strategy.
Trains are bomb, but from Zagreb > Italy not so much. Flixbus! Did Flixbus from Zagreb > Ljubinjania – layover – then to Venice. I got off the bus and didn’t know WTF I was doing. I THOUGHT I had booked a bus to take me close to my lodging … but not so much. Tarry on! I can’t quite remember how I got across the water to Venice proper, but I did. … then … water taxi. OH MY GOSH. I was already SOOO tired, but being on the water with the buildings and bridges … ahhhhhh…. I think I effed up the most efficient way to get where I needed to be, but as before, mistakes were deemed “adventures in miscalculations”
Venice is brilliant. You have to see it.
Then … I miscalculated the morning and had to SUPER POWER SHERPA WALK to the train station. I don’t think I had yet absorbed that if ya miss a connection, ya get the next one. And so it went. But I got to the train station for the train I wanted to catch. Sweaty AF.
Then Cinque Terre.
Then Nice.
Then fly to Brussels
Then Charleroi
Then Antwerp
Then Zandvoort
Google Maps rocks. The mall was amazing and pretty much just a different flavor of what we know in the US.
Got my shit. Yay!
Then … set course for Plitzevica. It was hours away, which is ALWAYS exciting for me, because good speakers and all the music vibes. I got yelled out one time from a guy at a toll place, but otherwise, it really wasn’t tooooo scary.
Nick & Quinn from Arizona at SBTRKT on their honeymoon!
Simone. The gal who said, “I saw you dancing.” I hope that is what is on my tombstone, in the event that I change my mind and want one. I SAW YOU DANCING. THIS is what I want to be remembered for.
THE SONG LIST: