{"id":2147,"date":"2011-06-13T14:19:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T21:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=2147"},"modified":"2011-06-13T14:28:35","modified_gmt":"2011-06-13T21:28:35","slug":"2147","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/2147\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

<\/a>Wrap-Up<\/h2>\n

\u00a0[Note:\u00a0 I\u2019ve peppered this final edition of Spring Forward with some of my favorite pictures from the many I took on the trip.]<\/p>\n

\"triumph\"<\/a>\"angel_1\"<\/a>I began this trip with lists, have used lists throughout the journey, and now cannot seem to end without using lists.\u00a0 I thought about lists the whole trip.<\/p>\n

But before I get to these final lists, I have a couple of thoughts about the trip in general.<\/p>\n

\"better_twins\"<\/a>This next bit may sound a big smug, and if it does, I apologize ahead of time, because smugness is so very unattractive.\u00a0 But here goes anyway.<\/p>\n

I mostly feel good about the trip because I pulled it off so well.\u00a0 While it\u2019s true that I feel like fear causes serious constraints on my life in many areas, I don\u2019t think you could say it does in regards to travel.\u00a0 For whatever reason, whatever bravery I have comes to the fore when it comes to putting myself into unfamiliar surroundings.\"big_head\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"trump_dog\"<\/a>I never freaked out when I was navigating a strange foreign city, whether on foot or underground in a subway.\u00a0 I never panicked when all the conversation around me was in words I couldn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 I found ways to enjoy each new strange place I visited.<\/p>\n

Also, since I\u2019ve learned to be a careful<\/em> traveler, my journey was not beset by lots of negative events.\u00a0 Or, to be more specific:<\/p>\n

I never missed a connection on a flight, train, or bus.<\/p>\n

I never had a problem with a hotel reservation.<\/p>\n

\"angel_at_sunset\"<\/a>I never had a problem with my passport or my Russian visa.<\/p>\n

I never had a bag lost or stolen.<\/p>\n

I never had a gadget lost, stolen or broken, and remember, I was carrying a big expensive camera, two lenses for that camera, two handheld portable gaming devices, a phone, a laptop, a mouse, a keyboard, headphones, etc.\"the_fortress\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And now I\u2019m home.\u00a0 Actually, I\u2019ve been home a week.\u00a0 I\u2019m mostly glad to be home.<\/p>\n

I have felt a bit weird, though.\u00a0 I\u2019ve felt a bit disoriented, sometimes a bit blue.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been tired and uninspired.\u00a0 Some.\u00a0 A lot of this I think I can mark down to jet lag, but there\u2019s also simply trip lag<\/em>.\u00a0 Being away from home for twelve full weeks is pretty extreme.\u00a0\"blue<\/a><\/p>\n

Reentry into my apartment was made even odder by the fact that I\u2019m now the only person living here.\u00a0 My roommate of four years moved out while I was gone.\u00a0 This sounds a lot more dramatic than it is.\u00a0 I knew Steve was moving, and moved on perfectly good terms.\u00a0 He never intended to stay here for four years when I invited him to stay with me when he was unfairly kicked from his longtime apartment in 2007.\u00a0 He\u2019s been a great roommate.<\/p>\n

\"wide_shot\"<\/a>In fact, there\u2019s some symmetry here, because Steve moved in in March 2007 while I was traveling in Asia for the same client I was in Europe for when he moved out.\u00a0 It\u2019s a little like Mary Poppins coming and going when the wind changes in a certain way.<\/p>\n

\"the_hills_are_alive\"<\/a>Another thought I\u2019ve had a lot over the last week is that I\u2019m basically at home wherever I am.\u00a0 In this sense, as horribly pretentious as I\u2019m sure it sounds, I\u2019m really a citizen of the planet.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to be back home in LA, but in some ways it\u2019s just the next place I\u2019m hanging my hat.\u00a0 This is not a bad thing.\"chaplin_and_jones_fan\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m so grateful for the gift of this trip.\u00a0 I\u2019m grateful to the client that made it possible, and for all the colleagues along the way that made the project such a pleasure to work on.\u00a0 I\u2019m so thrilled to have had the opportunity to see so many beautiful and fascinating new places.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also extremely<\/em> grateful to you, Dear Reader, for taking this journey with me!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"bright_colored_buildings\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Books Read on the Trip<\/h4>\n