[travel] Gradual reconvergence

[mattbell]

My trip has been ordered in such a way that things get more and more similar to the San Francisco bay area as my trip comes to a close. 

Compared to Cairo, Athens felt just like home.
Compared to Athens, Amsterdam felt just like home.
Compared to Amsterdam, London felt just like home.
Compared to London, Toronto felt just like home.

I gave myself the deepest culture shocks early on (Vietnam, India) and then gradually worked my way back to what is familiar.  I'm merging back into traffic on the highway instead of just dropping into the middle of it and hitting the accelerator.

Comments

[doublefeh.livejournal.com]

And now you're going to the midwest? Prepare to take an unlabeled exit out into the boonies.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

That's the plan. :-)

[doublefeh.livejournal.com]

I don't know what your exact route is, but 5 days from St. Louis to Chicago leaves lots of room for meandering. I highly recommend Meramec Caverns, about 1.5 hours southwest of St. Louis. It's a wonderful piece of Americana Kitsch as well as being a pretty great cave, and the tour hasn't changed in over forty years (my uncle was a tour guide there when he was a teenager).

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

We don't know our exact route yet either :) nasu_dengaku opted to follow our preferred mode of travel, and let serendipity guide us. We'll have fun :)

[traumentwerfer.livejournal.com]

I just got the most stunning recommendation for Boise...

Apparently it's got a great nightlife among other things.

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

Idaho in general is amazingly beautiful.

[miriam-littlebones.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Hmm...was Edinburgh more like home than London or less?

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

No, Edinburgh looked more like the inside of a hotel room. It was filled with hot and very literary women though, so I didn't really complain.

[miriam-littlebones.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Well, there's nothing wrong with the inside of a hotel room...I didn't hear you complaining, anyway ;)