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Today I opted to sleep in till 11 AM, thus missing the dance class I had planned to take (though I’m going to go tomorrow). I opted to take a later yoga class instead, which took me on a meandering walk through some quiet neighborhoods that I really enjoyed. It’s been raining most of the day, but at least I got to wear my yellow raincoat.

Since I wanted the day to be low key, I improvised through most of it, deciding what to do on the fly. After the yoga class I ended up at The Gallery Cafe, which was a cute cafe with free wifi where I spent some time just reading and people watching. On a whim, I decided that I needed to at least visit a cemetery while I was here (with visions of Audrey Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry dancing in my head). The cemetery in that book is actually Highgate Cemetery, which you can only visit at certain times on a walking tour. I opted to try Abney Park Cemetery instead.

To be honest, it scared the crap out of me. I got there around 6 PM and there wasn’t a ton of light in there with the rainy day. I couldn’t tell you what creeped me out more- the dead people or the living people who were roaming around looking lost.

 

 

I took one of those double decker buses back, snapping photos out of the top of the bus on my way back to the hostel.

 

I’ve decided that mostly what is making me grumpy here is that my hostel sucks. There are pretty much no places to go to have privacy or even comfort. Even the public areas are annoying- instead of wanting to talk to people, I just want to punch them. I’m trying to just get over myself and be open to the experience, but the truth is that I was basically born a grandmother and I really like my quiet time and “young” people mostly just irritate me. Lesson learned- I’ll be looking for less hip, more boring grandmother hostels in my future travels.

Yesterday was a long travel day after a night of far too little sleep. My bus picked me up from my hostel in Reykjavik at 4 AM on the dot, and I flew out around 8:00 AM, arriving at my hostel in London some time between 2 and 3 PM. Navigating the underground seemed daunting at first- especially after the ease of Iceland where you either get around on foot, or your bus for your tour is waiting there to pick you up at the door where you are staying.

But then I realized- I have a fucking smart phone. That’s like having a magical tour guide in your pocket and effectively ruins all hope of getting lost in an unfamiliar place. Getting lost, feeling vulnerable in that way- is something I try to avoid at all costs. I am not the most directionally competent human. I recall being brought to tears many times because of getting lost- on my college campus, out in the cornfields of Illinois where street signs don’t really exist, in new places and in places I’ve lived in for years. I hate getting lost.

At least this time, everything was really easy and straightforward. The subway here is easier than in New York- all of the stops are listed in order on the walls before you even get out onto the platform, and the different trains actually have names that make sense depending on where you are going.

Maybe eventually on this trip, I will challenge myself to get lost- to discover something new and unexpected and maybe have to ask for directions from a stranger. Until then, I’m feeling good in the comfort of being able to get myself around easily.

I went out for the evening with one of my roommates, and was greeted by my favorite weather ever.

 

After feeling like I was back in Seattle, I was cheered up when I saw these adorable people on the street:

After arriving in London, I effectively started freaking out about money and how much everything costs here- the pound system is deceptive, because you want to believe everything is in dollars. I’m challenging myself to not eat out while I am here and to have a few days where I purposefully occupy myself with things that are free. I went to Tesco and bought groceries that I can live off of for at least a few days, and today I spent most of the day in the Tate Modern (free!) and then took a (free!) ghosts of London walking tour.

The Tate was lovely- I forgot how much I enjoy going to art museums by myself. It becomes such a meditative experience, weaving in and out of things that interest you the most, taking time where you want to take time without pressure from anyone else. My favorite exhibits were a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit featuring a room of his amazing self portraits and an exhibit of drawings by Louise Bourgeois.

 

 

A short list of things that are annoying me:

-My hostel was supposed to have free internet, yet it only has free internet in the very small, very uncomfortable lobby downstairs.
-Sleeping in a room with 15 other people.
-The fact that I’ve been warned not to keep food in the room because one of the other girls had a mouse (!) chew through her canvas backpack and eat her trail mix.
-People getting in my physical personal space.
-stressing about money.

I think I’m having a sort of travelers malaise not having true alone time or feeling like myself. Even when you think the entire goal of your traveling is to NOT be yourself- is to decide, finally- who and what you want to be outside of your ordinary life- you can start to feel completely and utterly lost if you don’t have some form of connection to who you actually are. For me, this means I need to make art and take some dance classes. Tomorrow morning I’m going to venture off and take a modern class and then I’m going to give myself some down time and work on some Photoshop extensive images I’ve been ignoring since January. I think it’s also important when traveling over longer periods of time to remember to give yourself days off from being a tourist- to have days where maybe you just sleep in, sit, rest, and read a book.

I’ve been traveling for roughly a month now and I feel like it’s already been a lifetime. And I have two more months to go.

Today I had a leisurely morning with breakfast at the hostel and trip planning for when I get into mainland Europe.

Then I took an afternoon tour of the Golden Circle, which consists of Geysir, which is a place with natural hot springs and geysers, Gullfoss, which is a giant waterfall, and Þingvellir, which is a national park and the site of a rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

Geysir

This Geysir went off every 7-8 minutes.

 

 

Gullfoss

 

 

Þingvellir

I spent most of the tour hanging out with my new friend, Michael, who I met at the hostel bar last night.

I have a confession to make. I’ve been avoiding paying for lunches by taking extra hard boiled eggs from the hostel breakfast and saving them until lunchtime. Food is insanely expensive here- I got a mediocre dinner at the hostel last night that cost about $27.00. So I figured, since I’ve been saving money by not really having lunch except for hard boiled eggs, and since mediocre food is expensive- I might as well splurge on some expensive AMAZING food.

So Michael and I went out to a sushi restaurant called Sushisamba in Reykjavik and had a 6 course Icelandic feast. I figured I may as well try some local food while I’m here. I swiftly became one of those awful people who takes photos of their food.

Shots of Brennivín, which is Icelandic Schnapps

Smoked puffin

Pan friend arctic char

Coffee and lime infused grilled minke whale and Reindeer mini burger

Grilled lamb fillet

Of course, in typical fashion I ate dessert before I remembered to take a photo of it. But it was white chocolate skyr panna cotta, and it was delicious.

Tomorrow my bus picks me up at 4 AM, and I arrive in London around 11 AM. I’m not ready to leave Iceland, but I’m excited to get back to some more summerly temperatures.

On the drive there:

 

 

I stayed for 6 hours and it was amazing.

Yesterday I flew out of New York’s thunderstorms and into Iceland- arriving at my hostel around 1:30 am. After my hostel stay in Miami Beach, this place is seriously fancy and amazing- there is a giant lobby area with a bar and restaurant where they also have live music in the evening. I’m in a 6 person dorm room, and my bed is actually comfortable- I even have a giant duvet (in Miami I didn’t even get a blanket). My roommates are all really fantastically interesting people- there’s the couple who is currently sharing wine with me- a photographer and a recent college grad biologist/geologist. And there’s Liam, from Perth- who is traveling indefinitely and who I spent most of the day with today.

The first thing we did after having breakfast at the hostel was walk around a Saturday flea market:

 

Afterwards, we ventured to the The Icelandic Phallological Museum, which, as expected- was full of preserved mammal penises.

 

Then we wandered around town, popping into random stores and stopping eventually for a whiskey. It’s cold in Iceland- only in the 50s during the day, with really gusty strong (cold) winds. Honestly, it feels just like Seattle in the winter- plus gusty wind.

 

Liam.

 

 

At the hostel:

 

Tomorrow I get to go to the Blue Lagoon! I’m looking forward to luxuriating in warm water after traipsing around in the wind all day today.

I love photographing people on the Subway.

 

 

 

We had a big thunderstorm yesterday, which turned the skies very dark and caused a flash flood warning. I’m not used to thunderstorms like this anymore, so it was in parts exhilarating and in parts terrifying.

 

 

After another amazing yoga class taught by Jessica, we ventured back and I convinced Jessica to let me take this portrait of her and her roommate’s cat, Lavender.

 

I leave tomorrow afternoon for Iceland! I hope the weather cooperates. I’m nervous about my adventures abroad beginning, but also excited and ready.

I’ve been in New York for a few days, and honestly- I feel pretty worn out. All of the comings and goings are exhausting me, and the humidity also seems to be sapping my energy. I had a pretty grueling shuttle ride from LaGuardia on Monday- one that was filled to capacity with people, including an Australian family with 4 kids that literally did not shut up for the entire 75 minutes it took for us to get into the city. Couple that with the fact that the driver was the WORST EVER, who not once came to a complete stop the entire time we were driving, because every time we were at a stoplight he would continually tap the gas and brake, guaranteeing that I almost vomited 12 times on the way- and I’ve felt a bit nauseous and physically off since I’ve arrived. I’m grumpy.

However- I’m staying in the West Village with my good friend Jessica, who is amazing and I’m so happy to get to see her on this trip. I’ve had the opportunity to take yoga class from her and she’s an excellent teacher. We had delicious beer and 3 dollar falafel sandwiches- and I’m getting caught up in her energy and the way she navigates the city with ease.

We’ve also been doing some self care things, since I feel like I destroyed my body a little with the bike trip. Yesterday, pedicures and 40 dollar Asian massages- today, a haircut.

I also was so happy to see my friend Rosa, who was passing through New York for a day. We took a walk on the Highline and caught up.

Today I took a 2 hour walking tour of some of the Art Deco buildings around South Miami Beach- there are 900 something in the area.

We got to go up to the roofs of some of the hotel buildings- I didn’t manage to get photos of the rooftop pools and bars and full on beds (beds!) for lounging on, but let me tell you, it was glamorous. I did manage to capture the city and the thunderstorm.

 

 

 

Below are the efforts of my people watching for the day. I can’t quite describe how insane the party culture is here, nor what it’s like to walk along Ocean Drive and have all of the restaurant hosts haggle you to come in for a drink.

Yesterday was a traveling day- I left Key West shortly before 9 AM and biked to the car rental place, where I picked up my swank SUV that neatly fit my bike in the back. After using a bicycle as my form of transport for the past 9 days, it was quite a luxury driving a car. I got to listen to the radio! I got to be in a climate controlled environment! WHOA.

The drive up the Keys to the Everglades took a little under 4 hours- it was satisfying passing all of my bicycle stopping places and landmarks so quickly. The 7 mile bridge just south of Marathon flew by so fast I didn’t even notice I was on it until it was over.

I stopped at the first convenient airboat ride Everglade tour place that I found, and jumped on a tour right as they were about to leave. There was a threat of thunderstorms, so they were anxious to get people going before it started to downpour.

I learned that alligators are scavengers, making them less dangerous than their crocodile cousins, who are predators. Our guide shared with us that if you press your hand under the bottom jaw of an alligator (basically where the digastric muscles would be in a human), it will think it is at risk of drowning and you will subdue it. Also, alligators do not have the greatest vision, so when you are on a boat they will only register the size of the boat- therefore, presuming that you are much larger than they are.

 

 

After the tour, I dropped the car off at the airport, which was an endeavor- the rental car return at the Miami airport is actually just a giant 3 level parking garage. Luckily, I was on the first floor, but there is apparently no such thing as a bicycle route out of the airport- when I asked about pedestrian exits, people looked at me like I was insane.

Eventually, I figured out how to get on some surface streets by going the wrong way down a couple of one way roads. It was a 12 mile journey back to South Beach with some challenging riding (no shoulder, no bike lanes, lots of traffic) and some very pleasant riding (along the Venetian Causeway).

I’d like to take a moment to offer a public service announcement.

Dear all men, everywhere,

Whistling, yelling, or in any way trying to get my attention while I’m on a loaded bicycle trying not to die in traffic- will just make me hate you and think you are a total creep. Also, I don’t want to talk to you. Ever. You are just some random person on the street who may or may not be threatening to me, a woman alone on a bicycle. You are not entitled to my time and attention- I am busy. I’ve got places to go. I don’t know what you think you are trying to accomplish, but mind your own fucking business and please just leave me alone.

Love,
Jenny

I’m back at my hostel for another night before I venture to NYC! So far I’ve been the only person in a 4 person dorm, which basically means I am beyond happy and can watch Dawson’s Creek episodes and have loud phone conversations without annoying my roommates. I’m absolutely wiped out today, so apart from an Art Deco walking tour later, most of my day will be spent doing this: