Return

The whole name of this blog is 'Something Clever' because I don't ever have anything clever to say about my trips so I say "something clever" instead... so I am loathe to attempt to summarize into anything pretty or simple. I do have a few things to say, but nothing terribly profound I don't think..

• Random: the vast variety of climates and temperatures that I went through required a stronger face wash than the one I brought with me... my sad skin was not prepared. Otherwise, I had 2 small articles of clothing that I didn't need (but I wore anyway just to make sure everything got used!) and I willfully left my umbrella at home hoping that I wouldn't need it and that was a pipe dream. My hideous pink "I <3 San Francisco" umbrella proves it. Otherwise, with my winter/running gear, workout gear, 2 PJ sets, 4 dresses/leggings sets, jeans and a few miscellaneous tops I was totally fine. A little sick of my clothes, but nothing terrible. (Very grateful for all the places I did laundry!!) I had a pretty reliable packing system and really enjoyed my backpack over a rolling bag, though I am sure rolling would have been fine as well. There is just nothing like putting everything you own in that moment on your back. I was REMARKABLY lucky to keep my bag through every flight and absolutely nothing crazy happened (except for the GROSS food that someone spilled on it in presumably the Edinburgh airport... Friday the 13th! It was too fresh to have happened elsewhere in transit I think.)
• Being a tourist in January/February is awesome. While it does obviously change your perspective to see places in different seasons, I was very happy for the most part with what I was able to see and with the quantity of people seeing it with me (relatively very few!) I guess I have learned that taking a trade off, I would rather have less ideal weather and fewer humans than see things at their perfect season with 80 bajillion other tourists. I had a great time being cold, because I wasn't being cold at home, and I happily had enough clothes to deal with it. I had a great time being warm, because it was different than being cold. Overall I experienced so much different scenery and so many different things, and I was happy to do it at a relatively 'low' season!
• I have never been great about "The point is the journey, not the destination". I just don't generally roll that way and I have to really stop and make myself focus on enjoying the journey as opposed to the destination. I can't decide if this trip was good for this problem or bad for it?!?! It was either many small journeys leading to many destinations that I could check off my calendar (Yes I had a two month calendar with all the details of where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to do each day...) or one long journey back home with many stops along the way. Looked at that way, the whole trip was about enjoying the journey and not the destination... (although coming home is wonderful!) so I think I will indulge in that particular view, while the other interpretation can also be true. Who knows. I did start to kind of have misgivings in places where I didn't know anyone of "Why am I here?" because it seemed like I was just trying to be able to say "I've seen Vancouver" as opposed to really seeing it?!?! Which is not a good way of going about anything... I did start to feel like seeing all the 'touristy' things wasn't the most fulfilling, and I did do a good job of resting and not forcing myself out to do things when I was really tired... but overall I am so lucky to have been able to take this trip and have the time and space to contemplate these kind of ridiculous 'first world problem' kind of questions.
• In related thoughts, I think had I had fewer destinations I might have read up more on them and been a little more prepared with specific things I wanted to see and historical places to seek out. As it were, I think I flew by the seat of my pants reasonably well and learned interesting things based on where my whims took me, but considering how many destinations there were I didn't get to really 'dig deeper' much of anywhere (however it was much easier when I had local tour guides ie friends to do the work for me, thank you!) I think there is something to be said for staying longer in one place (why I go live places) but this way I got to see tons of friends and wasn't staying in any one place very long. Keeping things interesting! And the true Stanley way! How many milkings was this vacation?
• I can't remember where I heard this (probably some horrible romantic comedy movie, so forgive me) but it some quote about how vacation is vacating your life. While this could be taken in a bad way, ("Why do you need to vacate your life, is it really that bad?") it has returned to me over and over in this trip for two reasons. First, I got to vacate my life and have totally different food (that I had to choose sometimes but not all the time: I hate choosing food!), only do the dishes at other people's houses (MUCH better than doing dishes at my house), and experience something totally different from my regular for two entire months (That's 1/6th of this year. Holy cow.) It was so refreshing. But also in vacating my life, I am so much more aware and constantly reminded how I am inserting myself into other people's daily lives as a part of their everyday. At home, in my normal routine, it's rare that I think about other people and their everyday, I just assume that they are going about their business as I am. However when on vacation you are constantly seeing other people going about their regular lives as you are just passing through. You think "They do this every day, and today I happened to see it." It is just interesting to me (though now that I explain it, it just sounds kind of ridiculous, sorry...)
• At the beginning of the trip, beset by terrible jet lag and a pretty miserable mood (I blame the darkness in both Vermont and Norway) I was just kind of getting through. I was very happy with my race and learned some really cool stuff in Norway, but it was really Natalie in Edinburgh who helped me snap out of it and start to be 'awake' again. As the trip evolved I did feel less crummy and have some time to think about where my life is headed after my "Year off": just sounds so hoity toity! (and wonderful friends to discuss options with)
• I have said this before and will say it again. Taking a "year off" to "think about my next steps" is absolutely the height of privilege. The HEIGHT. I totally understand that. I am immensely lucky to have been afforded this opportunity and I am very very grateful to my friends all over the world who hosted me and communicated with me while I was gone. Thank you for indulging me.
• What was your favorite place? I have NOOOOOOOOOO idea!!! They are all special and wonderful in their own way. There is so much to learn in the world and I have barely scratched the surface of finding out what there is to know. I think home is my favorite place... but absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder and while Vermont is amazing and beautiful, there are MANY MANY other places that are also amazing and beautiful. I am so lucky to get to see a few of them. 

And now I have written an epic. Great. Sorry! Hope some of that made sense! I just go on and on about nothing... what ridiculousness! Until next time! (Next trip!)

Eureka, Montana, USA & Environs

We got in to Eureka at about 8pm (after a twilight tour of the Kootenai Falls Swinging Bridge and a dark tour of the Libby Dam!) and had an early night in preparation for our early start the next morning, as I had agreed to run the Snow Joke Half Marathon (hehehe get it?) with my host Lat and some of his Cross Country athletes that he had coached that fall. (When I say "run with" I mean line up at the starting line and start running at the same time and that's about the only 'with' that happened... but that was fine!)

We headed out at 6:30 to Seeley Lake, MT, to get our bibs at about 9:30 and wait with Lat's fellow coach and athletes for the race. There was much debate about proper clothing (which was of course different for them than for me as they were going to be running a lot faster than I was) but we headed out of the Seeley Lake Elementary Gym for the 11am start reasonably confident in our choices. We experienced another bout of changeable weather as I remember it being reasonably clear when we left the elementary school, but it soon turned snowy as we ran north in the southbound lane of Route 83. Being that I had not trained hard for this race and I started out standing near Lat and his friends, I had difficulty getting into the right headspace to run 13.1 miles. I was winded from even starting to keep Lat's pack in my sights, and also had forgotten about the elevation thing (not as high as Rwanda, but not low at all) and I was upset already about the length of time Lat would have to wait for me. Running in the slush with some middle schooler and his mom constantly passing me and walking was not that fun. However, when we turned off of the main road onto dirt, the run got a lot brighter (running on white instead of on slush) and my mental attitude improved enough to keep going. This race is famously run by MANY MANY dogs (leashed of course)... so it was really fun to see the dogs pass and see the family members who had driven out to points on the course to help the runners/dogs with water and de-icing the dog's paws. There was a beautiful pair of springer spaniels running with their owner who were near me a lot of the way, and they were so cute! I was beginning to think the lake was a total mirage, but we did eventually get to a few points where we could see the lake (there was a lovely bridge that I really enjoyed) but mostly it was just very nice forest with large trees and houses, a lot like the Milk Run but longer, and fewer hills. There was a lot of downhill on the dirt road stretch, so that was lovely, and I also decided around mile 7 that I would run/walk because I hadn't trained very well. I ended up finishing only 3 minutes slower than Norway... which was a little disappointing considering that I had trained much more intensively for that race (haha me and running is not really that intense) but I was proud that I was able to get over my terrible mood to continue and finish and I enjoyed my playlist with all my good songs and had fun. Now I have 3 half marathons in my continent quest finished and will continue to make plans for Antarctica 2020 and deciding where to go in Asia, South America and Australia.

We headed back (smelly Ellen and fast Lat) to Eureka and Lat made dinner (He cooked a lot and I thoroughly enjoyed it... Thank you Lat!) and we passed out. On Sunday we decided to take it easy and embark on a stellar driving tour of Eureka. We drove to the Canadian border, saw bighorn sheep (I was not that impressed as we only saw girls, who should apparently be called medium horn sheep) and tons of deer!! Deer are everywhere!! (Or large rabbits that can wreck your car, as Lat calls them) We counted up the businesses and their types in Eureka and figured out that indeed, Lat lives in Enosburg, Montana... except the nearest other towns are further away, and there is a bit more tourist infrastructure than in Enosburg. It did seem like a very similar place. We drove out a little way to have a scenic view of the 1972 Army Corps of Engineers most scenic bridge, the longest and tallest in Montana! The Koocanusa Bridge is very long, we walked across it to stretch our legs and kick snow over the side... and while at first I was like 'Oooo a bridge'... I did learn to appreciate it as we fully experienced just how long it was. As you can see it wasn't terribly clear much of the time I was there, so no amazing mountain photos, but it was a very beautiful place! And I am sure the mountains exist under the clouds!

We went out bowling (Dairy Center, Montana anyone?) with Lat's friends on Sunday evening and had a great time (Boys vs Girls is always an excellent idea, especially when the girls win!).

On Monday, I was recruited to dust off some random Powerpoints in my Google Drive and present to Lat's students about my various travels. I thoroughly enjoyed myself (I do like talking) and Lat was able to get things done, so it was a win-win. We (mostly Lat, but I will say we) made dinner for some of his friends Monday evening and tested how many people can successfully fit in his kitchen, and then I got to sleep in Tuesday while he went to school until it was time to venture to the airport. We dropped of the glass recycling and arrived sufficiently early (Ellen loves being early and Lat is not a fan) to fulfill my requirements, and I started my journey back home. (Short flight to Salt Lake City and then red eye to Boston and Megabus to Burlington on Wednesday. Claire I was kind enough to come get me and I was fed in Bakersfield before being chauffeured to Enosburg to fully complete my world circumnavigation at 7:30pm on Wednesday March 1st! Whew!)

GIANT THANK YOU to Lat and my family who made the final leg of the trip wonderful (I really thought I would be sick of traveling and sick of loading/unloading my backpack, but it was never really that big of a deal, just kind of reality) and even stocked my house with groceries upon my return! (Thank you mom!!! I am undeserving!!!)