Being abroad is for thinking.

My whirlwind month of travel is over. So much has happened in the past two weeks, not just to me and my travels, but there has also been a lot happening at home in VT that I have been thinking about. I can't believe it is March already. I am a little sad but also relieved - while seeing so many new, interesting places was fun, I am also so excited to be spending a longer period of time in Madrid, and to not feel like I'm rushing around! I have been to three countries and two continents in 4 weeks and I finally have some stamps (African, at that!) in my passport. In order to avoid posting one gigantic blog post about everything, I am going to post a few lists/notes that I have made in a little notebook I've been carrying around instead, so here comes several posts one after another!

I have realized since being abroad how much thinking I am forced to do. I have a cell phone here, but I am in no way connected in the way that I am connected in the US. Everytime I leave my apartment, it's just me and my thoughts until I get where I am going/meet someone I know. I can listen to my ipod on the train, or write notes in my notebook, or even talk to someone on the bus or train if that happens, but I'm not texting, I'm not calling anyone usually, I'm not connected. I realized this mostly when I was in Paris, because I had so much extra time in the city when I was wandering by myself, Friday afternoon and during the day Sunday. It really forces me to think and stay inside my own head because there are so few people that I know here, no one that I knew in Paris, and I think it's been really good for me to finally just stop and think. It's like being "off the grid", but internationally. It's not just a Leap weekend disconnected or deciding to turn off my computer for the night. It's a lot of time that's just me thinking, and I think that's good because it was time for me to slow down and just think.

Here come the thoughts from my notebook!