I spent five days in Chicagoland last week. There was so much silence. At night, I could hear my cat (who's staying with my mom while I attempt to sort out my financial life/career) as she walked across my carpeted room. There was also a lot of silence in conversations, as we drove places or sat in favorite restaurants or watched television together. I always find it slightly disconcerting.
This past weekend I was in Maine. The friends I went with are anything but quiet. It was disconcerting in its own way. If I never hear the word "wedding" again it will be too soon. I also don't need to gossip about anyone I went to college with for the rest of my life.
The process of getting to Maine was exhausting. I flew into NYC from Chicago around 1am, thanks to weather delays. I had slept 2 hours on that flight. I took a half hour taxi (which cost far too much money, but I needed to save time) to a friend's apartment where I slept for 2 hours. Then I took the subway to Grand Central and got on a train to Connecticut, which allowed me another hour of sleep. From there, I met up with my friends and we drove the 4 hours to Maine. There was no way that I was sleeping in that car, so I just had to suffice on 5 hours of terrible travel-sleep.
Getting back to NYC yesterday was also a pain, but at least it didn't interfere with my sleep pattern.
I am so tired of not being "home," if my place in Abu Dhabi can be counted as that. At the least, I miss having my own bed that I return to every night, in a room that is filled with only my things. It sounds pathetic, but it is absolutely exhausting to turn futons back into couches every day and pack a bag every week as I move on to the next place a friend so nicely lets me crash.
In the future, my travels will be very different. I will never have lay-overs, no matter how much money it saves me. I will stay in one place for at least one week, in a hotel where I don't have to clean up a single thing and they'll do my laundry for me. And public transportation will be out of the question when I have heavy bags to carry, no matter how overpriced a taxi may be. In the future, you see, I will be rich...
This past weekend I was in Maine. The friends I went with are anything but quiet. It was disconcerting in its own way. If I never hear the word "wedding" again it will be too soon. I also don't need to gossip about anyone I went to college with for the rest of my life.
The process of getting to Maine was exhausting. I flew into NYC from Chicago around 1am, thanks to weather delays. I had slept 2 hours on that flight. I took a half hour taxi (which cost far too much money, but I needed to save time) to a friend's apartment where I slept for 2 hours. Then I took the subway to Grand Central and got on a train to Connecticut, which allowed me another hour of sleep. From there, I met up with my friends and we drove the 4 hours to Maine. There was no way that I was sleeping in that car, so I just had to suffice on 5 hours of terrible travel-sleep.
Getting back to NYC yesterday was also a pain, but at least it didn't interfere with my sleep pattern.
I am so tired of not being "home," if my place in Abu Dhabi can be counted as that. At the least, I miss having my own bed that I return to every night, in a room that is filled with only my things. It sounds pathetic, but it is absolutely exhausting to turn futons back into couches every day and pack a bag every week as I move on to the next place a friend so nicely lets me crash.
In the future, my travels will be very different. I will never have lay-overs, no matter how much money it saves me. I will stay in one place for at least one week, in a hotel where I don't have to clean up a single thing and they'll do my laundry for me. And public transportation will be out of the question when I have heavy bags to carry, no matter how overpriced a taxi may be. In the future, you see, I will be rich...
Story of my life! I don't think I'll ever have that carefree bourgie travel lifestyle though.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of taking the subway to Grand Central in the dead of night is enough to drive me crazy. Since I'm not an independent, my parents are the ones paying for travel and we always take taxis, or one parents drives the other parent and I. However last summer my mom and I took the bus from my house to Flushing, then to LaGuardia. That was one time only. But then again I don't plan on traveling much within the US like that in such a short amount of time. I'm one of those New Yorkers who don't think about the rest of the country, aha.
ReplyDeleteIf you feel your place in UAE is the most comfortable, then that is your home. I've moved about every few years my entire life, so nowhere is "home" except the place where I can sleep on my clean bed and shower comfortably.
Yikes! That is suicide!
ReplyDeleteI did something similar during my summer vacation at the start of June to save some money, but I'll try to avoid it as much as possible. I'm just horrible when I'm sleep deprived. My whining tends to escalate to unheard levels :P
Ah yes... hotels are lovely, though I still prefer being home in my own bed, with my own pillow. Even though the hotel bed is nicer and larger and fancier :P
I like laaarge hotel bathrooms though. ;)
If I'm right, you travels are nearly over! Maybe Abu Dhabi isn't really "home", but at least it's a good retreat since your stuff is there.
ReplyDeletePeople our age (more mine than yours) don't really have "homes" these days, do they? We don't live with our parents a lot of the time, and we move from apartment to apartment and dorm room to dorm room as we and our roommates move from school to job. I love my apartment, but wish that I could settle down in one place for more than 12 months!
Whoa! it sure does sounds exhausting. hope you get enough rest tho'
ReplyDeleteI don't travel often but I learned a lot of the same things you did. I went to Boston and and I had to do some much traveling and hopping around and it just didn't make it and enjoyable time.
ReplyDeleteWow, that really does sound exhausting! I like visiting other places, but getting to them is always tiring and a pain to me. Also, no matter how nice the place is, at some point I always miss just being in my own bed. Being home really is a nice feeling :)
ReplyDeleteI envy you for getting to travel as much as you do. It's one thing I wish I could do more of, but knowing you have a bed and a place of your own to go home to is a comforting feeling. I love to travel, but one of my favorite things about it is getting back home, crashing in bed, and feeling satisfied with a good trip yet happy to be home.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I enjoy travelling, going home is always pretty great (with the exception of unpacking, of course). Though when you spend too much time GETTING to the destination and not enough time there, it can just be discouraging. I really wish I could travel more, but right now I have to go to school instead :/ Wah.
ReplyDeleteAs for my ex, not talking to him is probably the best option...I don't WANT to talk to him, but I feel like it's such a WASTE of all the times we spent together to just not :/ Oh well, I'm better off without him.