life

here's what's up:

1. i have a rash, but went to the doctor, and i'll be better soon.
2. i'm in love with italy and roma is fantastic.
3. italian men are very aggressive.
4. gelati is fantastic and i probably won't be able to eat pizza for ages when i go back home.
5. home? why do i want to go there?
6. maybe i have a rash, and maybe i'm sweating, but i really don't want to leave europe. i don't want to get a job and i can't picture myself living in the states. it's very un-me right now.
   

loving rome

can i go on anymore? i love traveling, i love rome, i love italy. i don't want to go back to a life like in office space. i need a job that makes me happy.

fallen in love

you know when you fall in love, when you kiss your love your knees go weak and you get dizzy and nothing else matters but being with them? well that's how i feel about italy. i'm in love with this country.

bob marley is universal

in literally every country i have visited i have heard bob marley. he is more universal than anything else. good thing i like him.

Traveling...can I stop?

Croatia now. Wishing I was able to go to Montenegro, Bratislava, too many other places. Places many Americans cant place on a map. I have this desire to travel, and this trip has only increased it. I have always wanted to go to Russia, to Nepal, to Tibet. Oh, Tibet! I know the time will come. I want to do something with my talents...teaching people how to read, helping the girls of the world. It is only a matter of me figuring out how I can best do this.

What Life is About

Not a nine to five. Not sitting behind some desk, worrying about money. It is about LIVING. Thus, here are some quotes to inspire. Now quit that desk job and travel!

Go confident in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagine.
Henry David Thoreau


Stop Dreaming. Start Living.

florence, yet another day

today i went to the duomo church in florence, which was lovely and i was appropriately dressed. i had someone take a photo of me in the prayer position. then i went to the museo dell opera which had heaps of religious painting and artwork. the museums in florence are quite costly (6 euros for the museo dell opera!), but good. i made a reservation for the uffizi, as opposed to waiting in line for 3 hours, and it cost me 3 euros, on top of the 6,50 euro admission. still, it was good. halfway through, i ran into a guy from my hostel, and we spent the rest of the time wandering together, discussing paintings and figuring out what they meant, since neither of us know italian. he told me how you die from crucifixation and we looked at many, many paintings on a limited number of themes: mary holding jesus after he was born with or without the magi adoring him, jesus dead, or when the angels come to tell mary that she is preggers with jesus. still, very good. i love boticelli.

what will i do when i go back? i cannot stop visiting museums every day. perhaps my mind will open its own museum.

too many tourists

after being in all the sights, all the museums, all the things to see in countries around europe, i am sick of tourists. their constant photo taking, shoving, rudeness, culturally inappropriate actions. i cant wait to be HOME, around new yorkers, around people who are so different from me but share the same city as home.

florence is nice, just way too many tourists. went to a church today and dressed appropriately. my skin looks like hell and i have permanent circles under my eyes but all is good otherwise.

to croatia tomorrow. may not have easy internet access there so silence may be around for a few days.

almost over

florence.
split.
hvar island.
dubrovnik.
amalfi.
napoli.
roma.

then i see trevor, and it is going to be nice to see him in greece, but i will miss my days of being an adventurer alone. plus that means my trip is over! but it shall be quite nice to take a bubble bath and sleep in a room with just him, or when i get home, just me! still, i don't want to stop traveling. help, i've caught the bug!

what am i doing with my life

i dont know, really. i have been thinking a lot about my path and my purpose and i really am not sure. i mean, now im traveling, which is selfish, but amazing. but where to next? and what are we here for?

what else is new

got to florence this morning, and spent some time wandering. saw david. yes, he is amazing. go see him. the imitations cannot compare. he is large, he is beautiful, and if he was human, i would have jumped into his arms. he looks like he wants a hug. i waited forever in line but it was worth it.

two weeks left of solo traveling. t is excited but right now, i just want to travel forever. when he comes, it means my trip is over. still, i am so psyched for greece. i am not sure where we are going but i know we are going.

Loving Europe, Not Sure I Can Go Back to the USA Happy

I have been having such a brilliant time lately. So many highlights of my trip have been occuring. As if I think, Wow, that was amazing, then I go hanggliding, or to the top of the tallest mountain in Europe, or to the Street Parade. I spent last weekend in Zurich staying with Marco, this amazing Swiss guy, and his roommates and his roommates friends who were from the Netherlands, this Spanish guy, and also this Slovakian guy. It was so amazing and so enlightening to be around these people. As the only American, we discussed politics (Bush sucks), and they were amazed at many things about American culture...and I donnot know if I can go back there. My mother will freak, my boyfriend will leave me, and Tonks will hop on the first flight over here to drag me back to the states. But seriously, Europe is so much more progressive and diverse. You can hear house music in a grocery store. See thousands of years worth of history, just by walking down the street. Recycle in a train station. Eat amazing food, the pale imitations are in the USA. I dont know if I can do it. I just feel so far from what is back home.

Dont worry, I will go back home, but in the meantime, I am sucking down culture with cannolis, forgetting about the dirty streets of Brooklyn as I navigate the unnavigable ones of Venice.

vienna

vienna.
salzburg.
cinque terra.
interlacken.
zurich.
venice.....

and i can count the places left i have to go. so sad, i love traveling.

traveling changes you

i never want to stop traveling. i cant imagine working a 9 to 5. seeing art, meeting new people, challenges...work seems dull. i hope wherever i work next, i feel happy, that i do not hate waking up in the morning. i want to do something i love. does anyone do anything they love?

backpacking

when you backpack, you start to learn about who you are and what you want and where you want to go. i am realizing how i have not written fiction in ages, but it is nice to take a break. sick of rejection letters and hearing who is writing what and critique of experimental fiction and ugh, just makes me sick. it is nice to be completely anonymous, which is what i am every single day.

i went on a river cruise on the danube last night which was totally beautiful. the commentary was hilarious, though kate and i were the only ones laughing.

how will i ever go back to working and living and not meeting new people every single day? is that living?