Final Reflections from London

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I spent 13 hours out of the last 24 on trains so I beg for your forgiveness if my last entry isn't all that interesting. I probably got about an hour's worth of sleep on the night train from Munich to Paris and another half-hour of sleep on the Eurostar from Paris to London.

There are a variety of reasons why people embark on solo excursions to other parts of the world. I felt that the time was right for me to go for a variety of reasons:

- I finally had the financial means to go abroad
- I think I was mentally prepared to travel solo
- I needed something that would challenge me, both physically and mentally
- I felt that I needed a broader perspective about the world
- At the age of 24, I'm not getting any younger

Although I do realize that my blog has mostly been narrative, there were many things I learned about the places that I visited which I could not explain in my entries for reasons of time and (to my detriment) my simple inability to convey thoughtful insights into words that would do them justice; I hope that I will get an opportunity to answer some of your questions (if you have any) when I return.

My intentions about this trip were not to party my brains out nor were they to see every site imaginable lest I never return to Europe. I hoped that by spacing a small number of cities over the course of 3 weeks, I would be able to spend at least a couple of days living the lives of people in each of these cities; on the whole, I felt that I achieved this. I did see some of the major sites, but I also spent time walking around each of the cities, sitting in parks and cafes, getting to know each of the public transportation systems intimately, and buying supplies in local supermarkets. I would have hated to have spent my time in the confines of an air-conditioned bus and fancy hotels. I was able to see what I wanted to see and to do what I wanted to do - on some days, I saw several sites while on others, I really did nothing at all. I could have probably seen 2 or 3 more cities, but I would have tired myself out. I felt that it took me about 2 days to understand how each city worked, so if I had limited my time in each city to 2 or 3 days, I would have short-changed myself.

Although I hardly "partied", I was not a social outcast. I made an effort to talk to most of the people I encountered - this was probably the most rewarding aspect of my trip. Though I didn't develop lasting friendships with the people I met (this is a common misconception about staying in shared accomodations), I nevertheless found talking to my roomates (or others I met along the way, like on trains) to be enriching experiences. I talked to a Swede about the Sedin twins, I talked to Germans about economics and the European Union, I talked to Americans about Europe, I talked to Aussies and Kiwis about their countries, I talked to the French about Paris - I could go on and on. I hate to use a cliche, but I will anyway: in spite of travelling alone, I was hardly alone.

People say that travelling changes a person (or something along those lines), but I can't say that it has changed me (for the record, I don't think a short trip abroad can do that). However, I think that I have learned a few things.

I'll be honest with you in that I was hoping that I would have come to some sort of epiphany about myself as a result of this trip, but this did not happen; I don't think that a short trip abroad can change anyone. However in retrospective, I have much to be proud of. I proved to myself that I could immerse in supposedly different cultures (though on the whole Europeans aren't that different from North Americans) and come out relatively unscathed. It does take some work to ensure that a trip goes relatively smoothly, but I don't think this should discourage anyone from solo travel. I don't think I've caught the 'travel bug' yet (I am itching to sleep in my own bed again), but I think I will definitely travel solo once again in the not-too-distant future.

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