There She Goes…

Well ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached the end of Amy’s Adventure Part 1. WOW, what an amazing time it has been! 13 countries, 22 cities, 14 plane rides, and a lot of memories. I am now in Lisbon and just enjoying the sun set and a cool breeze in the air. It’s definitely time for summer to begin to fade away…you can feel it. And it’s definitely time for me to go home and rest. I can feel it. I think this picture of me in Spain tells you a lot about who I am in this moment. I’m happy. I’m smiling. I’m shiny happy people. 

I arrived in Lisbon yesterday and even though I’ve said I hate Portugal to everyone I meet, I thought I might give it a chance. Except, this time I wouldn’t care how rude anyone was to me. Well, I got scammed by the taxi driver from the airport to my guesthouse who charged me 44 euros for a ride that at most should cost 20 euros. And I’m kicking myself because I was chatting him up in the taxi and even commented how considerate he was to other drivers. I know I shouldn’t judge a whole country by a few bad experiences but it’s really hard not to. I think I may just skip Portugal altogether and fly in/out of Spain…where the people are always nice and honest. 

Today I just walked around and did some shopping – everything fits nicely in my suitcase (thank goodness). Tomorrow my flight leaves at 12:55pm and I will be home in San Diego by 9pm with my parents and my dog greeting me back in America. Speaking of parents, I want to take this time to thank them for taking care of my dog and my condo. Without their love and support, I couldn’t have been able to go on these trips. For that, I’m truly thankful and will spend a long time making sure they know how appreciative I am. 

As for other thanks, I want to thank all the kind people in the world. To the friends I’ve made in Dublin (Kim) and Sevilla (Angie). To the strangers who smiled at me and helped me navigate metro stations. To the angel I met in Sevilla who walked and talked with me for no reason. To the friendly people working in the places I’ve stayed in – in fact, the girl working at this guesthouse in Lisbon has offered to call an Uber for me in the morning since I told her I don’t like to take metros without having internet as a backup in case something goes wrong. You rock Gabriele! Thank you to my friends back home who stayed in contact with me through one medium or the other – especially when my cell phone died, those resourceful ones found other ways to make sure they could communicate with me. Thank you to everyone who has cheered me on along the way – strangers, friends of friends, etc. Thank you Universe for making sure I survived. There were some harrowing moments but those are completely overshadowed by the good I saw. 

As I sign off to rest for the next 3 weeks, I want to leave you with one final thought: There is still a whole lot of good in this world. There are still people who will help you out (even if you don’t ask). Yes, there are also rude/unkind people but you get to choose how you respond to them. Don’t worry about what others say. Don’t even worry. I highlighted this quote from The Fountainhead which I finished very early on in my travels: 

Worry is a waste of emotional reserves. Very foolish. Unworthy of an enlightened person. Since we are merely the creatures of our chemical metabolism and of the economic factors of our background, there’s not a damn thing we can do about anything whatever. So why worry? 

I can tell you I am a lot less anxious after this first part and I want to spend as much time as I can living in the moment. If only I could figure out how to bottle this feeling up and preserve it…that will be my biggest challenge once I stop traveling.