Itineraries

I'm fortunate enough to have three weeks after my semester ends in Jonkoping to go where I please. I've spent today soliciting recommendations from friends, family, and approximately infinite travel websites on which cities I should spend my time in.

I harbor some sort of pathological intolerance of the traditional "big tourist" Europe experience--I'd rather spend a week in one city, exploring on my own and discovering things on my own terms. Classic hipster.

Anyway, at the moment I'm looking at Brussels, Berlin, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Meteora, in Greece. I was set on Istanbul until a friend kindly reminded me that Turkey was out of the Eurozone, and I would have to apply for a new visa (I'll pass). I'd like to narrow this list down to three cities, so I'll have a week in each.

Meteora is a strange contrast to the other five on the list--the name means "Suspended in air," and that's basically all it is: monasteries built on top of extremely tall cliffs. Look--

Kind of incredible, right?

I seem to have picked the rest of the cities based on particular genre-related itches I have. Brussels is the home of both NATO and the European Union, which would make for some awesome political thought. Berlin is about as 20th century historical as any place can get. Paris and London have fantastic culture and architecture, and London in particular strikes me as a great place to explore the streets. And frankly, I can't get this stunning picture of Amsterdam out of my head.

Seriously, whoa.

Planning where I'm going has also reinforced how much I'll have to be pushing myself. I have a natural tendency towards inertia, and it's easy for me to justify spending a day inside, futzing about with my computer. Even if I do go out, sometimes it's slipping into an introverted sulk. In order to be satisfied with this trip--and with myself--I need to really force myself into foreign situations. More importantly, once I'm in those situations, I'll need to stay engaged. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly adept at hiding my boredom with a conversation, even if I was really into it just a moment before. Despite that personal hiccup, my favorite experiences revolve around conversations.

People have been saying that the best way to have a good experience abroad is to be active about it. While there's certainly a rigid, planning mentality to this philosophy that I don't agree with, I'm going to try to take the core message to heart and not let opportunities for these moments I crave slip away.

Cheers,

Daniel