wandering wonderers

I was going through my site and making more changes when I noticed that I used “Not all who wonder are lost” as the tagline of the page. I immediately went to change it, but then thought better of it, for the moment at least.

I know it is grammatically incorrect as that is not the correct quote from J.R.R. Tolkein. That isn’t what he meant by it. In my life, I’ve gone through many, many ups and downs and constantly second guessing my many, many interests. I’ve always been imaginative, creative, and constantly wondering.

I don’t think it is by accident that I made this mistake. Just because you wonder and dream about things that may at this moment seem impossible, it doesn’t mean you are lost. It means that you are exploring and curious and that is awesome.

For reference here is dictionary.com‘s definition:

Wonder: verb (used without object)

1. to think or speculate curiously: to wonder about the origin of the solar system.

2.to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel (often followed by at): He wondered at her composure in such a crisis.

Honestly, if you look at the definition of “wander” I like the previous word (wonder) even more.

Keep wondering wanderers!

-H

Finally…Rain

Croatia has been awesome. In 3 weeks, it has only rained twice. You don’t think you could get sick of sunny and 75 degree weather. But, for me, it was nice to have the change of pace. There is so much to see and do! The water (all the water) is so clear. The beaches are mostly rocks and the graffiti adds a nice touch to the mostly concrete buildings. Mountains provide an incredible backdrop to the city. Split and Croatia have an amazingly rich history and I love learning about it!

Things are starting to feel like the #newnormal Next step will be to get to know more about my fellow travelers!

Some things change

I was expecting to be able to change everything that I didn’t like about my habits once I started Remote Year. They didn’t.

I didn’t automatically lose 10 pounds when I arrived. Things weren’t all figured out for me. I didn’t feel less lonely even though I was surrounded by people. I’m not less awkward and I don’t like small talk more.

I have been abroad for 1 week and in that time I showered with cold water for 3 days because I couldn’t figure out the water heater. I ate apples, almonds, carrots, and frozen pizza because I didn’t magically know how to cook. I actually wore a pair of socks twice (eww) because I had to do laundry and I wasn’t sure how to hang everything up to dry since there isn’t a dryer. After a full week, I realized how to use the shower head as a shower. I figure things out day by day.

It is a struggle. I cry every time my parents send me a picture of Pollick or I hear a song about love.

So far, my location has changed and not much else.

Let’s get the party started

I landed in Dublin at 10am local time, 6 hours ahead of my previous local time. I thought I was going to be able to explore and have a drink at the pub, but as it turns out, I don’t function well on 2.5 hours of sleep. I ended up sleeping, watching some dating show that had three guys pick out outfits for a girl they had never met before with crazy time restraints and a limited budget, and ordering pizza and a brownie via room service. Alas, my 22 hour layover in Dublin was a dud. I fully intend to go back though – what I saw of Ireland was gorgeous, green, and lush.

I arrived in Split, Croatia, on Tuesday and got to my apartment around 1 local time. Now 7 hours ahead of what my body was telling me was the right time. This is where the fun begins…

I couldn’t figure out how to get my SIM card tray out – I tried a pen, a screwdriver for eyeglasses, anything I could find in the apartment. Nothing worked. It got to be about 4pm and I hadn’t eaten yet, so I decided to download the google map and give it a shot. Google took me on a 15 minute walk around a park, up hill, through apartment buildings, and down something of an alley to a grocery store that turns out was just up the hill from me… literally less than 5 minutes. On the return trip from the grocery store, I thought I was taking a shortcut but got turned around and ended up wandering around for about 30 minutes to figure out that I was less than a block from my apartment. Thank you Google Maps for the assist. When I made it back, I was flustered, tired, and hungry.

I had terrible headaches the first 2 days – lack of caffeine and not enough water, not enough sleep blah blah blah. So I finally made it to the workspace Wednesday evening. I did some work and realized that the converter I had didn’t have a grounded plug… I borrowed one from somebody in the group and charged the ol’ laptop up while I got some work done. Another awesome individual from the group helped me with the SIM card situation with an earring. YAY!

I made the trek back to my apartment huffing and puffing as I realized just how little cardio I have been doing lately. Seriously, it was like climbing a stairmaster level 200.

Last but not least, my roommate isn’t here yet. She is supposed to arrive on Friday. I hope she doesn’t mind I set up an impromptu hangout Tuesday night on our patio area!