"I knew who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then." - Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
I've been trying to decide what to say about the last few weeks and this experience as a whole for a while now. I've gone through list after list of places I've been and people I've seen. Besides the usual suspects of Alex, Mandy, Mike, Charlie, Sofia, James, Amber, and Patrick, I've met a great many people - some for a moment, a glance, a conversation, a meal; some whose names I know, others I don't; some whose words will stick with me forever, others who have already faded from memory. There was the older lady at the British Museum who saw me taking pictures of a piece that captured my soul and asked innocently, "What will you do with them once you have them?" - a question that I have asked myself repeatedly over the past weeks, not of the pictures, but of the experiences, memories, and lives; the stamps and souvenirs. There was my older German roommate whose name I never caught but left me her milk and cheese in the fridge; my sweet Korean roommate, HeeNa, who asks how my day was every time I see her; the barista at Starbucks who taught me how to say "take away" in Spanish; the litany of street vendors who beckon me in every European language under the sun (my favorite was the guy who thought I was French); Dan and Phil, the guys on a stag do who shared a meal and memories with me at Subway before heading off for a power nap and more debauchery ..
It wasn't until I headed home from this last encounter (berating myself mentally for not taking them up on joining for a taste of Barcelona's night life or at least Facebook friending them) that I realized maybe it's not about where I've been and who I've seen... Maybe it's *who* I've been and *where* I've seen.
Camp changed me. There's no question about that. Budapest also makes the list of life-changing experiences. I could chalk this epiphany up to a life changing experience as well: say that Barcelona gets added to the list or that the whole trip makes the list. I could, but that's not it. It's more subtle than that. I think Alice had it right. We all change a million times each day, and, more importantly, we *are* changed a million times each day. It's just in those instances in which we are in an incredible place or experience something we never thought we would that we realize we've changed. In this state of heightened excitement/awe/fulfillment/whatever we credit that place or experience as a magical entity/moment/time/thing. In actuality, we're constantly in this magical state of change, being changed and changing with every stranger we met or place we see, every breath we take and moment we exist.
So yes, I've been to England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Hungary, and Spain this trip. I've seen Charlie, Alex, Sofia, James, Kelsey, Vitorio, Elizabeta, Ana, Dávid, Mandy, Mike, Henry, Di, John, Rachael, and Richard. But I've *seen* the way the moonlight reflects off the Danube, the incredible turquoise water of the Mediterranean Sea, the unparalleled beauty of the Welsh mountains and valleys, the intense green that is Ireland and the plucky individuals who go with it, the amazing street art of Belfast and Barcelona rife with a history and culture I'll never quite grasp but will never stop longing to belong to, the way people from around the world connect regardless of language barriers in a hostel where everyone is blundering through this thing called life and choosing travel as their method to do just that... I've seen a lot this trip. And as for being... Well, I knew who I was when I got up this morning but I think I must have been changed several times since then.
