No Accent Yet

Ah, traveling. We actually had a great trip – though the overnight flight from the states to London is really surreal. Between the time change and lack of sleep and general change of environment, we were pretty whacked out Sunday. Our luggage didn’t make it, so we’ve been in the same clothes for a couple days. But we’re happy.

We are already pretty big fans of London. The people are wonderful and weird, and the city is eclectic and cool, the transportation is simple and we can walk all over. We shared a Sunday afternoon at the pub with some American friends who live here. One thing that is so odd – and different for me since I’ve more recently travelled to the Americas and Caribbean – is that we don’t stand out here. In the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Costa Rica, I was clearly foreign. Here, if I was able to fake a good accent, no one would know. It’s just something that feels so different, since going abroad more recently has meant being conspicuous.

I also was thinking about how much I love traveling in general. Figuring out new cities, investigating foods, talking to people who live here. But I’m also WAY out of the habit of traveling to new places. I was nervous Saturday packing, wondering if I was forgetting things, considering all the “what ifs” and things that could trip us up. But I should know better – I’ve traveled enough to know that things for the most part always work out, and are pretty easy. And yet being out of the habit, it wasn’t until I got here that I remember how simple – and how fun – it is.

All that said, I will be VERY glad to put on clean clothes once my luggage gets here. Cheers!