The Easiest Lessons To Learn
January 1st, 2006 by Adam
Traveling alone in places where you can’t speak the language (even horribly Anglicized cities) very quickly teaches some invaluable lessons. First and foremost is that NOTHING ever works out the way you plan it. A trip to the museum, a quick walk to the park, meeting back at the hostel at 2pm, making curfew, catching trains, finding dinner– the most mundane activities have a tendency to become ridiculous endeavors because of a thousand variables, the least of which are differences in language, culture, geography, weather patterns, time zones, and public transportation.
The second thing you learn is that all these endlessly annoying problems that arise are OKAY. Within a couple weeks you accept the fact that nothing is ever as simple as it would appear, but those complications are what make for good stories and interesting situations. Everytime it seems that things couldn’t be better something fucked up is bound to happen, but conversely– from every fucked up situation something tolerable emerges– often something more vibrant and delightful than anything you could have planned. You learn to shrug it off and move on, almost hoping that the next adventure doesn’t work out either.