DISCLAIMER: I really really really want to upload photos but a) Flickr is being a little bitch and b) the WiFi here is being a little bitch so you’re all just gonna have to look at my Instagram for now. Anyway!
I’m finding it so incredible how things just always…work out. Not that they are perfect or anything, but just that they…do. Minus this whole Flickr thing. UGH.
Take my last day in Iceland, for example. I had (finally) returned the car and walked home, gotten my deposit back, and slept a bit. By the time I woke up, the weather had turned awful. Gusting winds, pouring rain, so I planned to stay inside all day- that is, until my friend that I had met at the other hostel I had been staying at asked me to grab an early dinner. I agreed without realizing quite how terrible it was outside, and had planned to walk the half hour to get there. I couldn’t even make it across the parking lot without getting blown over. Taking a cab would be the next sensible choice, but they cost about $30 for just a few minutes in the car. LUCKILY, I met an American friend in the lobby who was also interested in going out. I invited her to dinner, we split the cab, and a few minutes later we were eating lobster soup with my other American friend.
As we were leaving, I started talking to a guy that was standing in line ordering some beer. Before I knew it, the American girl I had just met and I were upstairs drinking with a group of five Polish guys and a girl, and spent the rest of the evening with them. I learned some Polish which I’ve naturally completely forgotten by now, but I think is kind of important because I’m part Polish! I hadn’t planned on doing literally anything that day, and yet I found myself surrounded by new friends – and all the beer, Polish plum-flavored vodka, and Icelandic liquor I could ever want.
The next day, I left Iceland. A few hours before I left, some of us spent several hours in hot pools that were a short walk from the hostel, which were pretty amazing. If you’ve never been literally HAILED on while lying down in a pool, you’re definitely missing out on a super trippy experience. Highly recommended.
The airport is a giant pain to get to from Reykjavík, but I was able to take a free shuttle because a friend had bought a round trip ticket and didn’t end up using it. Blah blah blah, did all the bullshit airport things, and while I was waiting at my gate I asked a Scottish couple if I could borrow a cable to charge my phone (because I refused to buy one in Iceland). We talked for the next half hour and got alone splendidly, until it was time to line up for boarding (which on Easy Jet is one of the most terrible experiences in the world, it takes about 45 minutes to actually board once you’re lined up DON’T GET ME STARTED). We lost track of each other, but when I finally got on the plane, it turned out that we were all sitting together. It was such a crazy coincidence, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Even though we were stuck on the plane for awhile before takeoff and it was delayed for several reasons -which the pilot explained to us in great detail, as if we cared- I had the most fun flight of my life with these humans. Even after my refusal, they bought me drinks and fed me chocolate and Bugles; we talked, we laughed, we had a wonderful time. Strangers can become friends so quickly.
As of this evening, I have now been in Edinburgh for two days. Aside from the fact that I still cannot correctly pronounce the name of this city, I love just about everything about it. It is so beautiful, truly fairy-tale-esque. There are just castles…everywhere. Every single building looks absolutely unreal. The streets are cobbled and hilly. I’ve been on three walking tours in the last 24 hours- a regular one, a “spooky” one last night, and a HARRY POTTER one today, where we learned so much about JK Rowlings inspiration and visited the cafes where she wrote the books. Also very importantly, she lives here. Obviously I haven’t seen her because my heart would have stopped and I would no longer be here writing this, but a girl can dream.
I’ve met some cool people here as well. Even though I spent most of yesterday on my own, in the evening I met some friends during our walking tour and ended up going out with them afterwards – a couple of South African girls, a couple of Australian girls, a New Zealander, a German, and a Canadian. A few of us hung out today and walked around, and the plan is to do some Scottish dancing with our hostel tonight, which excites me probably a bit more than it should.
But yeah. Things just…work out. Worrying is pointless. Planning is useful only to the point of self-reflection and goal setting, but becomes a waste of time and energy if you plan too much. Because then you can’t say yes to new opportunities and new people, because then you can’t grow.
However, I don’t want to paint the picture that everything is perfect and that all of my experiences have been all good. Sometimes I trust people too much, and while it generally works out in my favor, I’ve gotten hurt. I’ve been alone and lonely. I’ve been surrounded by people and lonely. I’ve been sexually harassed. I’ve lost things and slept in very uncomfortable positions.
The thing I’m learning about myself- or at least, trying to convince myself, I’m not totally there yet – is that no matter what happens, I can deal with it. I can solve the problem. I can get through it, no matter how bad it seems. Being somewhere new and scary is getting so much easier – it’s like a muscle that needs stretching. Dealing with uncomfortable or frustrating situations is the same. It just takes practice.
Also fuck Flickr.