It has been quite a while since Mu and I wrote on the blog, about a month in fact. Some of that has been being really busy and some comes from being in the US and not having as many experiences that feel special or abnormal or worthy of sharing. We all watched and loved the world cup, for example. And followed the evolving, sad and terrible news from Ukraine this week. That said, we have been enjoying DC and all that is on offer in the summer in our nation's capital with festivals, museums, live music, farmers markets and farm shares, great outdoor stuff, and fun bars/restaurants.
We recently hosted a couple of Mu's siblings and their respective families across two different weekends, which made me realize one of the joys of living in DC for a bit – being in a city that has so much history and iconic images/vistas. It is cool to walk from one meeting to another and realize that you are going to pass by the White House or to bike into the District for a night out and pass the Washington Monument and the Capitol or go for an early am run and see the blood orange sun rising next to the Lincoln Memorial across the still Potomac.
We have seen so many wonders across the world these last 2 years, and been in many of the world's capitals across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia. It is fun to be in a city that I felt I knew pretty well before we got here and realize that it reveals itself differently over months versus the quick hit visits we have enjoyed in the past. I am constantly finding little gems, be it a cafe in an area that seems kind of dead or a museum that I did not know existed.
In essence we have applied many of the techniques we picked up and refined over the last 2 years. One example was a walkabout where we went through about 8 neighborhoods over a weekend day that added up to about 16 miles. Great day. Another was checking out a great hole in the wall restaurant we learned about via a local blog, something we tried to do while on the road. Lastly we have been using the capital bikeshare like crazy to get around, saving some money and getting in a bit of exercise to boot. We tried to use these networks of the mesh economy as much as possible in our travels and I wrote about them back in September of 2012 when we were just starting our journeys.
It is cool to me that so many of our strategies from traveling have carried over to our life in a more normal living situation. I figured that would happen, but you never know how much carry over will happen when you move from one life situation to another. It reminds me of a realization I had a few days ago that my preferences and choices tend to be dominated by those that have occurred during our travels. For example, when I get introduced to someone new, I tend to steer the part of the conversation about me to this adventure.
It hit me all of a sudden while making dinner and listening to music I learned about after we started this adventures (DJ Pumpkin), on a service that I started using a ton after we left (Soundcloud). I am wearing jeans bought in New York and a shirt in Cali, Colombia. Again, both bought after we started traveling. On my wrist is a bracelet given to me by a nice woman who spoke basically no english on a ride mu and hitched in southern Thailand. Basically everything on my body is from these last 2 years.
I find myself wearing the stuff that has become familiar, just like always. It just so happens that all of this stuff is from our travels. So even though we have a full wardrobe now for the first time in 2 years, I tend towards things that came into my life/possession along the way in our travels. There is no longer a travel Wilson and States Wilson. They are the same with hardly, if any, variation between the two and their interaction with the world.
Part of me wonders if this means I have left that old stuff behind forever. Should I just get rid of those boxes and move forward with what is near and dear to my heart now? What about those things that I don't even remember but have strong emotional ties? But these new things have strong ties too from our stops along the way and you can only wear or listen or do one thing at a time. At least that is all I can manage at the moment here in DC.
This process of reinvention and discovery is a life long one and it is good to be reminded about that dynamic along the way.
Posted with Blogsy