This is only the second time I have really left the country, but it amazed me how quickly it felt familiar. That is, the unfamiliarity of a new place felt familiar.

I always get into such a different zone when I leave the country, and get out of my life for awhile. And although it felt European, the second I boarded the plane I realized that “European” felt different to me than it had the first time I experienced it. In some ways, it felt like returning home, or going to an old friend’s house who I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Packing up my backpack, managing my things, thinking and writing and taking pictures, and exploring and consulting my guidebooks and phrase books, talking to strangers, these are still some of my favorite things.