Feelings-sick

These last two days have been a bit shit for me. And it's been drama from home that's been bringing me down. And the fact that my dad told me that my dog Charles got out of the house and got picked up by animal control and had to get a rabies booster. It worries me there because my dog Sydney got really sick after her rabies booster and we had to put her down as a result. So I've been upset and stressed over that. And it's thrown in a tinge of homesickness to my trip.

But I was thinking about it a bit because I don't actually have a home to be homesick about. My dad is moving in a few week (before I get home) so the house I left I'll never be going back too... So I'm not really homesick for a place... I'm more Feelings-sick. 

I'm homesick for that feeling of comfort of seeing your friends or cuddling up with your dogs. 

I'm homesick for a familiar face and the feeling of being safe.

Now it's not to say I don't feel safe traveling because I do. But you just sleep a bit on edge when you're in a room with strangers. You know. And my dad hasn't been diligent at all about sending me puppy updates. My mum on the other had has been grand... But i really want to see Charles and Will.

And that doesn't even start to cover the whole missing Jameson thing. Because FaceTime is like a bandaid. It doesn't make the missing him easier it just makes it less while we're talking. After I have to hang up I'm mopey for a while. The same goes for talking with my mum or Kelly but well not as clingy missy.

I always get a bit of this thing called "homesick" when I travel. Sometimes it hits me early in a trip. Other times it makes the last week a teary mess for me. But this time it's hit me earlyish... or maybe it's already half way through my trip. I've been away for nearly 3 weeks now. Who knows if I'll make it another 3. I really don't know. My plans are all over the place and crazy and constantly changing. It's fun but at the same time... I just want to lay in bed and have a lazy day. Or walk around without pants on. Or stay up really late and write and not worry about missing breakfast. 

I'm missing a lot of the small things right now. So I'm doing my best to do what I always do and just suck it up. I'm hoping London will set me straight. I'm headed off at 6:40 tomorrow morning for my favourite city! I'll have lunch in Trafalgar and grin like an idiot. Hopefully a good dose of London will kick my feelings-sickness for a while. And if it doesn't then at least this trip isn't forever. I'll be heading home, where ever it may be, in a few weeks.

But before I can think of home I need London. It's my unhealthy addiction... Or maybe it is healthy... well either way I love London!

Cheers,

Morocco Shock

This trip I've decided to adopt an "open book" policy on my experience. Normally when I travel I internalize my shitty days and homesickness. I would only ever tell my friends about the good times I was having. Which is great and maybe inspires people to travel as well but might not help them once they get there.

I'm not going to try to sound cool about my first few days in Morocco. They were tough.  Like really fucking tough. And I don't think I read any other blog about what a shock it is.

Granted I'm a solo female and did fly into Marrakech and that city is just overwhelming. I learned to see it as a good overwhelming. But none the less it was hard.

I think my first "crisis" was brought on by the fact that I was sleep deprived. At times of almost tears in a sleep deprived state I remember my first day in Limerick and how I cried over my busted converter. Why do I recall this? To remind myself that a little sleep solves all the problems.

My "crisis" was thus. People stared at me more then I had prepared mentally for. Everyone tried to compliment my hair. My host wasn't as good with English as I thought, so my fast talking slang wasn't doing me any favours. His family didn't speak English so I felt rude and inconvenient to them,  I hate that out of place feeling. I also walked around the city that first day. Trust me tired and Marrakech don't work.

I ended up messaging my mum. I was whiny and upset and strangely homesick even though I'd been away only 5 days. She nicely put me in my place and reminded me why I had gone in the first place.

The next day I walked around with new eyes. I was trying to pick out places and settings from my favorite book series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  That helped quell my wacky feelings. This series is essentially why I came to Morocco. Side note it's by Laini Taylor and it's amazing so go read it!

I felt accomplished when I found my hostel in Marrakech my last night.  I did have help but I still felt good. I got on the bus at 9h00 to Merzouga and arrived at 21h00. It was a long day.

My near break down there was iver stress of not knowing how to get to my next city if Azrou. I ended up deciding I didn't give a fuck where I went next and BAM I made it to Azrou.

So lesson learned stop giving so many fucks about every little thing. I know plans change when you travel and they have in the past. This time it was just tough for me to take the different environment and plan mix ups in stride. But I'm on my last leg of Morocco! I can do this!

Cheers,
Taylor

Adventure 2013: Sydney

My adventure to Sydney really started with the train ride up. I caught the 8h30 train from Melbourne Central. Trains are one of my favourite modes of transportation. 

They aren't always fast as my 11.5 hour ride to Sydney proves. But there is just something slightly magical about them. You can see the world pass by. What I liked most about this particular ride was first the names of some of the towns

Cootamundra

My personal favourite Wagga Wagga

And I saw my very first wild kangaroos! And a lot of them. I look out of the window at this one field and there’s just a bunch of kangaroos watching the train go bye and I was throwing the biggest fit of excitement and smiling like mad. The businessman next to me just looked at me with this half disgusted look on his face as I bounced in my seat. But come on they were real live kangaroos!

I arrived in Sydney Central right about 20h00 and I felt a little thrown off. You see I hadn’t booked a hostel for the night and well it was almost bed time. So I pulled out my phone and googled to see where the closest hostel was. Seeing that there were quite a few on Elizabeth street within 5 minutes of the station I set out. The first one I walked past I didn’t like the energy so I kept on. And not 5 minutes from the train station I found Big Hostel. 

Honestly it was one of my favourite hostels that I’ve stayed at so far. It was clean and there was always coffee and it was just nice. So I was glad that I stumbled upon it. For dinner that night I had ramen. I didn’t feel like going much further then the 7-Eleven. 

When I woke up the next morning I was ready to take on the world. After all I was in Sydney Australia! So i headed north on Elizabeth Street till hit Hyde Park...

 I meandered past Saint Mary's cathedral... 

Past the Hyde Park Barracks....

The Old Mint building...

The Hospital...

With this cute little statue outside. So apparently if you toss some change in, rub it's nose, and make a wish it'll come true. So I did. Why not? I'm a dreamer and a wisher.

And then I turned my sites on seeing the Opera House. Now in the United States we know Australia for two things Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Sydney Opera House. So when I walked over this little rise and first caught sight of it I realized how far from home I really was...

I just stood there for a while just seeing this icon and I realized that i was in Sydney Australia. This is the farthest I had ever been from home. It was like I had just accomplished this impossible feat. Two weeks ago I had been in London and now I was on the other side of the world in a new city staring at the one thing that defines Australia. So naturally a victory dance was called for. Lucky for me no one saw me punching the air and repeating "I'm in Sydney fucking Australia!"

After my little fiesta I walked closer to the Opera House but still in the botanical gardens. It wasn't time to venture right up to the Opera House yet... my poor system couldn't have taken the overwhelming shock of excitement. Instead I opted to see the gardens and walk around Farm Cove.

I got to see the Government house

 And Mrs. Macquarie's Chair

 I sat in it.... no biggie...

 Then I decided it was time to go see the Opera House up close so it was time to walk back around the cove.

 But photo time first..

I don't know what it was about the Opera House but it was just so exciting to walk towards it

 After soaking in the epicness that is the Sydney Opera House I made my way to Circular Quay... aka the heart of Sydney.

Then over to The Rocks. I'd heard that this area was the oldest part of Sydney. After going to the museum it's very true.

 The Rocks website informs us that “The Indigenous Gadigal people inhabited the rocky headland and surrounding shoreline for thousands of years. Then in 1788, Australia's first European settlers-British convicts and their overseers-claimed the land and built their camp atop the sandstone cliffs. The Rocks eventually grew from an open-air gaol into a vibrant port community. Its colourful history-filled with tales of ‘shanghaied' sailors, rough gangs, and gritty life-can still be traced in the many surviving buildings from the last two centuries.”

So essentially everything is crammed onto tiny winding streets and it's just really cool to wander around. But I didn't wander for too long. I got it in my head that I wanted to take a stroll on the Harbour Bay Bridge... So I did.

On my way back down I decided to go under the bridge. 

There's the remains of an old fort at the Dawes Point park. To those without an imagination it's just a bunch of ruble. But to me it's a place to let your imagination run wild. This is history right here!

Next stop was the Observatory...

By the time I finished wandering around the Observatory and made my way back to Circular Quay it was getting dark.

I decided on Ramen again for dinner... I didn't feel motivated enough to actually cook for myself. Now something that I thought was really funny was the fact that to American Uni students Ramen is a staple food because it's so cheap. Australia has their dirt cheap Ramen too... but they also have Cup Noodles which are dirt cheap in America. So I had to laugh when I saw how expensive they were here.

I had enough time to snap a few more pictures before catching the bus back to my hostel.

After I made my classy Ramen I went to my room to read. And to be honest I got insanely lonely and a tiny bit homesick. I’d been fighting it most of the day and sightseeing distracted me for the most part. But when you’re alone in a hostel dorm it can’t be pushed off for long. This usually happens at one point or another when I travel. And normally I suffer through it or message my friends and family. But well the time difference was a bummer because I was 14 hours ahead so everyone was still asleep at home and that just compiled my loneliness. So I bothered Charles. And honestly that half hour or so that I talked to him made me so thankful to have him in the same city as me. It killed the worst of my I-want-to-cry-in-a-fetal-position loneliness. I probably owe Charles a hug for helping me out of that…

I was greeted the next morning by rain. I took it as a sign to have a relaxed morning and just chill out. So i sat in the common room and cruised the web for the whole morning.

The rain cleared up just before noon. In an effort to be productive I suited up and headed out.
First stop...Paddy's Market where I got some tasty fruit. 

Then I headed up the bustling George Street. Sine I realized I had missed some main sites on the street.

Like the Town Hall

And the QVB... Queen Victoria Building 

Darling Harbour was my next stop...

I don't know if it's always that deserted and boring. I'll just say it was the threat of rain that kept everyone away. It was still kind of cute though. And I walked past the Chinese Gardens

On my way back to Big I stumbled upon China town. As I walked down the main pedestrian area I saw people queuing up in front of this window. Being the curious girl I am I got in the queue and soon saw that it was for cream puffs. I've never had cream puffs let alone fresh ones. But they were cheap so I got 8 for $2 and ate them on the walk back to my hostel.   

 They were really delicious by the way. Like insanely so. And for dinner I made calamari in lime sauce over rice noodles. Marvelous and tasty.

Now don’t go about thinking that I’m a good cook. I pretty much cheated on this dinner because I picked up the calamari in lime sauce at Woolsworth already prepared. All I had to do was cook it and add the noodles. But I did find out that rice noodles are the shit!

That night I had every plan to go to bed early so I would be well rested for class the next day but it was sort of like trying to go to bed early on Christmas Eve. I eventually fell asleep, obviously, because I was up early the next morning. 

I had my tasty breakfast of toast and cereals. Then I checked out. Stored my suitcase. And caught the bus to class. 

Even though I’d seen the Opera House I was still just barely realizing that I was in Australia. I had people in the classes think it funny how excited I was to be in Australia. But really it was something epic and exciting for me. I always seemed to realize that during the classes. But my stay in Sydney wasn’t quite over since I hadn’t fallen 100% in love with the city yet… that came on Monday…

Cheers,