Turning a frown upside down
Background tune: Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones
I’m going to kick off this little travel journal of mine with a quick story to give some context. I’ll tell it in the simplest way I know how- by starting at an arbitrary point in the past and then randomly jumping forward to the present at some point. I’ll also throw in some unnecessarily long and pretentiously descriptive sentences as well. Enjoy…
So there I was, only a few weeks into my thirties, sitting with my head in my hands thinking what the fuck do I do now? In the space of a couple of months, I’d gone from living with the person I’d planned to spend the rest of my life with to being single, depressed and essentially homeless. Alright, that sounds a bit melodramatic but living out of a bag and having to rely on friends for a temporary place to stay definitely took its toll, and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by the situation I’d wound up in. That being said, there’s nothing like a crisis to really make you appreciate how supportive your friends and family are!
I was dealing with the shitty feelings that come after a breakup combined with a lack of motivation at work and the stress of trying to find a half-decent house in the middle of January. I’m also painfully aware that just having a job and a roof over my head is a blessing, so that added a nice layer of internal guilt to the mix. At the time, it seemed to be one thing after another, layering up like some kind of depression jenga tower that was ready for toppling and throwing pieces all over the floor.
Fortunately, I’d been through something similar years before so I had a well-fitted pair of hindsight glasses to help me see things a bit more rationally. I had two options- I could either let the tower fall and spiral into depression or try to see my situation as an opportunity to do something different. While the first option did sound like a lot of fun, I thought I’d see what was behind door number two this time.
Finding yourself in a situation with no major commitments is pretty rare at this age so I decided to do something I’ve thought about since I left school and go travelling. I’ve always been inspired by stories of self-discovery, life-changing adventures and acid-fuelled drives through the Mojave desert. So I thought to myself, this is the perfect chance to finally go for it.
Fast forward a couple of months and I’m sitting on the floor of a busy Stansted Airport, barely being kept awake by the lingering caffeine still in my system from the coffee I had on the drive down. It’s 7am but everyone knows time is a construct that doesn’t really exist inside airports so I’ll be moving on to the beers soon. Is it really a trip without a pre-flight pint?
It’s the first time I’ve ever travelled by myself but I think a little solitude and some time away from normality is just what I need. I’m making my way across the US and I’ll be using this blog to journal my adventure. Knowing me, I can’t imagine there’ll be much structure to it but I’ll be sharing my experiences, random musings and of course plenty of photos. So if you can’t be arsed listening to me ramble on, at least there’ll be some pretty pictures (hopefully).
