A Good Problem to Have

Yea I’m in a funk but so what? I’ve been out for so long that I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Getting burned out almost seems natural but I just hope it turns out to be a temporary thing.

It has been awhile since my last entry and though I waxed poetic about missing Asia in the last post, this time I’ve realized that maybe it isn’t that continent that I miss most but rather something a little more subtle.

So far in Europe, things have been really easy. The buses and trains run on time, they arrive on time, they work and everything seems to run smoothly. People wait at the crosswalks until signaled and the rational rules of traffic apply. You can drink the tap water and flush toilet paper. I don’t fit in here. Europe is too easy, too comfortable. So far while it is jam packed with culture… The only thing missing is adventure, and this is crucial.

Admittedly, this is a funny complaint to have and a damn good one to have in the grand scheme of things. There is no way I should expect that the top travel destination in the world should have all the frustrations that made my previous ones rewarding. But with all these wants and unrealistic expectations about a place that shines, it took an objectively weird experience to bring it all back

Through a series of indescribable events I found myself in a venue called Godor listening to a man scream incessantly into a microphone while someone to his left just whistled into another. It was strange, and the heavy metal accompaniment just added to the craziness.

Through it all, I might have actually realized what Europe is about. Not daily adventures and annoyances of developing world travel but more about seeing how a culture so similar yet so distinct from my own revels in the activities that I enjoy as well.

That concert changed something in me and it wasn’t from the long list of $1 beers. It showed me that adventure can take many forms. Being part of a crowd exploding with excitement to music that any rational person would call noise exposed the differences in us while simultaneously confirming my feelings of familiarity. Here we have a culture that I actually can relate too! A country that somewhat resembles home in comforts and attitudes. And that is the difficult part.