First Impressions of Poland

To steal a line from Annie, I think I'm gonna like it here.

The overnight flight was exhausting, the transfer in Paris was super-confusing, and I haven't had much chance to explore Warsaw yet, but so far I like what I see.  I think the next two weeks will be exciting.

Right off the bat I had to barter with a taxi driver.  Thankfully I had read up on the situation before hand, so I knew that a ride to the city center from the airport should cost around 40 zl (approx. $13).  I also knew that some shady cab drivers grossly overcharge tourists.  So, when the first guy who approached me quoted 95 zl, I laughed.  He asked how much I wanted to pay, I said 40, and he told me to take the bus.  Oddly enough, when a legitimate driver approached not 30 seconds later, he quoted me 40-45 zl and I got in the car, while the first guy was already escorting some other unsuspecting tourists away.  I was excited when the first song on the radio was some delightfully incomprehensible Polish rock song.  And then the second song was....Born in the USA.  You really can't ever leave America behind.

The area of Warsaw where I'm staying is busy and commercial and has a definite post-Communism feel to it.  In ways it definitely reminds me of parts of Moscow, which is oddly comforting.  The Palace of Culture and Sciences near my hotel even looks nearly identical to the huge, crazy building I lived in in Moscow.  Apparently Stalin built these things everywhere - 7 of them in Moscow just wasn't enough.

I'm also loving the giant square bed pillows that Eastern Europe is so fond of.  I haven't seen these in almost 13 years and they make me happy.

My first day here has also already confirmed something else for me: Poland is really cheap.  Take, for example, my dinner.  Mind you, Warsaw is the most expensive town in Poland and the restaurant I went to was moderately touristy and overpriced (but really close to the hotel).  Still, I had a full plate of pierogis, an unlimited salad bar and a large beer and I left full, all for the equivalent of $11.  After trips to Switzerland and Australia, this is quite a welcome relief.  I can't wait to see what things cost in the smaller towns.

Anyway, today I'm really hitting the streets.  I'm excited to explore the Old Town portion of Warsaw.  The language isn't as mystifying as I expected, but I think that's at least party because my Russian really helps me to understand a lot of the words.  However, I really need to break myself of my strong inclination to speak to people in Russian, because that's not really going to get me anywhere.  So far, people seem to want to speak to me in Polish thinking that I'll understand, which makes things fun.  I'm interested to see if this will continue.

Now, off to explore.

Off to the Motherland

Well, this trip has really crept up on me quickly.  But my bags are packed and I'm off to explore Poland.  I have less of a set plan for this trip than I usually do, and I'm kind of excited about that.  I'm in the mood to wander and explore.  I'm a little bit daunted by the language, but I'm sure it will make for an interesting trip, if nothing else.  And the long flight should give me ample time to peruse my guide book.

Now I'm off to the airport for what is hopefully a smoother trip than my last one was.  Fingers crossed...

Wanderlust

The time since I got back from my trip to Australia has passed in a blur of gray skies and unseasonally cold weather, with little to report.  The adjustment back was much harder than I anticipated it would be, and I'm still working on figuring out what my "normal life" is these days.  The good news is that I've managed to make some progress, however minor, in getting people to pay me actual money for some photography and writing gigs.  Hopefully this is merely the start of more good things to come.

The never-ending winter makes sunny Australia seem like a lifetime ago.  My tan had faded away along with my good mood as a result of being cooped up in my apartment.  Thankfully, though, I got to take a much-needed adult mini spring break to Florida with some great friends this past weekend, which did wonders for both my spirit and my tan.

We spent the first day at Epcot Center, my first trip to Disney since I was (I think) six years old.

I admit that going in I was skeptical about how much fun Disney would be as an adult, but I confess that it was a pretty great day (other than losing my first - but I'm sure not last - pair of sunglasses for the year).  I was also surprised how much of it seemed familiar after all these years.

The rest of the trip was spent just relaxing on the beach in Pass-a-Grille.  The Gulf of Mexico was beautiful and gloriously free of both oil spills and college spring breakers.  I even built a sand castle, another first in many, many years.

Even though I just got back yesterday, today is the first sunny and warm(ish) day that I've seen in NYC this year and the weather has me itching to go somewhere, anywhere.  Wanderlust has been coming on strong in the past week or so, and today is only making it worse.

So now I am on to planning the next trip in my year of fun.  I've booked a ticket to the motherland and will be spending two weeks exploring Poland next month.  I'll also be meeting up in Prague for a few days with a friend who currently lives in Germany, and then closing out this Eurotrip with a few days in Budapest.  These are all new places for me, so I'm very excited.  I'm also very excited because everything that I've investigated so far seems to point to the same conclusion - Poland is very inexpensive, especially in contrast with my last trip.

And now back to the trip planning...

One week back

I've spent most of my time since I've been back trying to reestablish some sort of normal sleep schedule and sorting through many, many pictures.  Many people have asked how many pictures I took, and the answer is right around 5,000.  Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me.

I've also been trying to reflect on all of the places I went and things I did, and it's fairly overwhelming.  Going through the photos only reminds me of more things that I had temporarily forgotten.  This is especially the case since I was on the move so much.  In case you're curious about all of the various means of transportation that go into a 2 month whirlwind tour Down Under (and for some reason I was), I kept a highly non-scientific tally, which breaks down as follows:

Bus = 32
Van/shuttle = 25
Boat = 20
   Catamaran = 5
   Ferry = 5
   Other = 10
Plane = 14
Train = 10
Taxi = 10
Car = 4
   Driven by me = 2
   Driven by others = 2
Skybucket/gondola = 4
Parasail = 1
Zorb = 1
Buggy = 1
Tram = 1
Balloon = 1
Bicycle = 1
Harley = 1

And now that I've been back in New York for one week, I have to admit that I've never had this hard of a time adjusting back to "real life" after one of my trips.  Part of it is the time difference and the jet lag (which has been completely killing me), but there is another substantial part of it that is a struggle to slip back into my old life.  It has been a week full of variations on the question "why am I here?"  Also significant is that this past week I passed the six month anniversary of leaving my job.  So, lots and lots of questions to ponder.

At least preliminarily I quickly came to the realization that I don't want to just slip back into my old life.  There are certainly things that I missed, mostly people, and those things make me happy to be back.  But there are also many aspects of "reality" that I didn't miss.  So the question naturally arises whether I can realistically begin to cut those things out.

Which brings me to the first goal I am setting for myself - decluttering my life.  I think back to that day in the Outback when I realized that I was happy, and what stands out to me above all else is that everything just seemed simple.  While that day seems 10 million miles away (as opposed to merely 10,000 miles away), I want to try to keep that feeling with me.  I want my life to be simpler.

How to accomplish that, especially in a place like New York, is the big question.  I used to always judge my feelings about being home on how I felt when I first saw the New York skyline upon returning.  For many years the sight of the skyline warmed my heart.  In some of the darker times it made me miserable because all that I could see was the office that I had to trudge back into the next day.  But this time was different.  It was neither one of those feelings.  I landed just before sunset on a clear day, and the city was quite honestly glittering and beautiful.  But it didn't look real to me.  It looked like some perfect miniature model of the city sparkling in the sunlight, but I was entirely outside it.  I'm still not sure what any of that means in the bigger picture, but I think I need to figure it out.

The one thing I know for certain is that I am happy and blessed to have a lot of good friends here.  Many have gone out of their way in the last week to make time to catch up with me and listen to me ramble on about my trip and my difficulty transitioning back, and it has made all the difference.  I know how busy life can be, and quality time with friends is something that I cherish.  You all know who you are, and I hope that I can return the favor when you need it.

And now on to figuring out the answers to life's big questions....

Wildlife, wine and winding down

Well, my epic Australia trip is finally coming to an end.  On the one hand it truly has felt like I've been away from home for a long time, but on the other hand it is hard to believe that two months has already passed.  So much went into planning this trip and I really couldn't think past it to the point when the trip would be over and I would have to return to reality.  And I'm going to blissfully avoid thinking about that reality for two more days.

I've done a lot since I left the Outback, but I honestly just haven't had the energy to do a post about it.  Two months of moving from hotel to hotel and living out of a suitcase has finally caught up with me and I'm quite simply exhausted.  But it has been a fantastic ride and the exhaustion is completely worth it.

After leaving Alice Springs, I had a quick pit stop in the town of Adelaide for one night before heading on to Kangaroo Island in our rental car.  Apparently summer is the worst time to see animals in the wild.  So, while we got to see a good amount of crazy wildlife at reserves, the number of live animals we saw in the wild was probably matched by the number of dead animals we saw along the roads (which, in fairness, was quite a few).  I thankfully did not hit anything larger than a bird with my car, but I did have to stop on our last morning to let a huge kangaroo slowly hop across the road in front of us.

While the animals were somewhat lacking, the scenery on Kangaroo Island was beautiful.  The aptly named Remarkable Rocks and the tucked away beaches made our visit worthwhile.

Next we headed back to the mainland and up to the Barossa Valley, one of Australia's most famous wine regions.  Unlike the wildlife, the wine did not disappoint.  Between walking, a van tour and a bicycle provided by the cottage where we stayed (no driving for me in wine country!) I think I visited 7 or 8 wineries, all of which offered free tastings of countless varieties of wines.  And the wine was good.  Very, very good.  It's hard not to feel good about life when you're faced with endless free samples of wine...

It was also nice to leave the tour buses behind for a week and get behind the wheel.  Driving is one of the things I miss the most living in New York.  I've only driven in the city once, and you might have to pay me to get me to do it again.  But here, where the roads are uncrowded and the land stretches out for miles around, driving is great.  And after a week driving on the wrong side of the road even felt right.

And now I'm back in Sydney for my last few days.  As touristy as they may be, Sydney Harbour and the Opera House are still some of my favorite sights.  This is especially true at sunset (perhaps my favorite time of day).

And now comes my least favorite part, when I have to pack everything up to head home.  I can't say that I'm looking forward to the roughly 24 hours of travel that lie ahead of me.  It also still blows my mind a little bit that I will be landing in LA earlier in time than when I take off from Sydney.

But before we get to these less fun parts of traveling, I get to enjoy one more glorious day at the beach, soaking up the Australian sun...

No Ordinary Outback

My trip to the Outback has been a complete anomaly. I didn't see anything like what you might typically see on postcards, and instead I saw all sorts of things that "no one ever gets to see." It has been the best part of my trip yet.

My trip had a rough start - quite literally, as the landing into Ayers Rock airport was one of the roughest I've ever experienced, thanks to the remnants of Cyclone Yasi that had trailed all the way inland. Typically you never hear about a cyclone hitting the desert, but Australia apparently made a special exception for me. I'm told that Yasi was the largest cyclone ever to hit Australia, and the effects were felt all the way out in the barren middle of the country.

At first I was less than thrilled about the prospects of rain on my outback experience, since I of course wanted to see the epic blue skies and red rocks that I've seen in so many pictures. But after about five minutes of pouting, I accepted that there was nothing I could do about it. Besides, I had heard that exceptional things happen at Uluru when it rains, so much so that there was a photographer on my flight who was heading out specifically to see it in the rain.

It took all of five minutes to start hearing ad nauseum how lucky I was to be here in unusual weather. It seems that anyone who lives or works here is required to know and lovingly repeat the same statistic: only 2% of visitors get to see it rain on Uluru, and only 1% get to see the waterfalls cascading off of it. Now, as exciting as that might sound, after hearing it so many times it started to grate on me a bit. It would be like going to Niagara Falls only to see that it wasn't running, which may indeed be a fascinating thing that no one gets to see, but it seems far less exciting if you've never seen the normal thing and have travelled over 10,000 miles to do so.

That said, Uluru in the rain is pretty spectacular. I may not have gotten to see the gorgeous sunset that I wanted, but I saw so many waterfalls over 2 days that I might be in the running for president of the 1% club. Thankfully the weather cleared enough at times that I was able to see the rock up close while still seeing the much fabled waterfalls.

I should probably clarify exactly how much rain I'm talking about here. A town near Uluru reported that between Sunday and Monday (coincidentally the two days I was there), they had as much rain as they typically have in a year. That's a whole lot of rain. 2010 was the second wettest year on record for this area. As a result, Australia's famous red center is currently abnormally lush and green. Again, not what I was expecting, but a pretty great thing to see.

The rain we got at Uluru the second night I was there ranks up among the most epic rainstorms I've ever been caught in in my life. The torrential downpour was so intense that the resort started to flood. Far from ruining my vacation, I had a lot of fun laughing and playing in the absurd amount of water rushing into the resort bar. People were really good sports about it, rolling up their jeans and walking through the floods in flip flops or just barefoot and having a great time.

Thankfully the floods and the storm cleared out just in time for the part of my trip that I was without question looking forward to the most - a sunrise tour of Uluru on a Harley. As I waited in the pitch black morning to be picked up, I got my first glimpse of outback stars. The elusive (to me anyway) Southern Cross was even shining down on me, and I took this as a sign that this was going to be my perfect morning. And it was.

I not only got to finally see the rock in somewhat normalish weather, but I got to take my first ever motorcycle ride. And I loved every second of it. I can definitely understand why people love it and make a lifestyle out of it. The rock was a brilliant red in the early morning light and I got to wear an awesome leather biker jacket, so really nothing could have been better.

I next moved on to King's Canyon, where I again got to be a statistical anomaly (Australians do love their statistics, so it seems). As we hiked around the rim of the canyon at sunrise, we could hear water rushing below - as sound which I'm told 99.9% of visitors would never hear. As we continued our way through the outback, we were surrounded on all sides by isolated storms and rainbows spotting the horizon. We even passed a lake that doesn't exist - as in my driver who drives this route all the time has never seen it before.

I spent my last night in the town of Alice Springs, where the usually dry river had a splash of water in it (which they reckon I was really lucky to see, but no percentages were provided here). To close out my outback adventure I took a sunrise champagne hot air balloon flight over a very green desert. Before the sun came up I saw the most amazing display of stars yet and could even see the Milky Way quite clearly, which was another first for me. The balloon ride was a great way to end what has been a fantastic five days.

Now, I would be remiss if I wrote this long of a post about the outback without mentioning my new nemesis, the fly. The Australian fly, particularly the small variety that lives in the outback, appears to have evolved over millions of years to become the single most annoying creature on the planet. These flies have a persistence unlike anything I have ever seen. No matter how many times you swat at them, they will not abandon their fervent desires to fly in your ears or up your nose or possibly even land on your eyeball. Insect repellent is powerless to stop them. They are without question the one part of this experience that I will not miss.

The rest of it, however, has been wonderful. The last five days have been one of those experiences that I will never forget. I feel great both physically and mentally. On the physical side, I hiked over 24 kilometers while I was here, and it dawned on me as I was finishing my last hike that it was just over 9 years ago that my back was in such bad shape that I couldn't walk. The realization was pretty powerful for me.

Another realization struck me out of the blue the other day - I was happy. Now, this may seem like a small thing, but for me it was huge. I was going along, just taking in the scenery, and a feeling of happiness suddenly crashed down on me like a ton of bricks. I'm sure I didn't just start being happy right at that moment, but apparently the feeling just crept up on me without my realizing it. Having been so unhappy for so many years, I had kind of forgotten what it felt like to just be completely and totally happy. Of course these things can't be permanent, and, as I was discussing with a new friend the other night, you can't really appreciate the happy times without the unhappy times, but for now I will gladly take it for as long as it lasts.

My days in the Outback have been a kind of escape from reality within the bigger escape from reality that is this whole trip. I embarked on this vacation with a sort of presumption in the back of my mind that this would be my only time I would make it over here. But there is something about the Outback that has gotten under my skin, and I have a vague, gnawing feeling that I might journey back here some day.

But of course, only time will tell just where my life will take me...

Tasmania

Our week in Tasmania has drawn to a close.  Despite a couple of odd tour guides that made the trip at times rather awkward, we really got to see all the highlights of the island.  And they were worth seeing.

In essence, Tasmania is all about wildlife and beautiful views.  We got to take in our fair share of kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons and birds, and of course the Tasmanian devil.  We even got to see a Tasmanian Tiger Snake (extremely poisonous) nonchalantly meander across our path.

Although we had some rainy weather, Tasmania is still an undeniably beautiful place.  There are plenty of mountains and lakes and waterfalls and rainforests to keep a person busy for at least a week.  My favorite part, however, might have been the rocky East coast.  We also go treated to a beatiful sunset on the West coast on our second to last night.

Despite all the pretty scenery, I have to confess that my favorite thing this past week was probably hand feeding kangaroos at a wildlife preserve.  It's a pretty surreal experience to watch a kangaroo hop straight up to you.

Now I'm off on a solo trip to the outback for the next 5 days.  Along with the reef, I was looking forward to this part of the trip the most, so I'm really excited to get there.  It looks like I might even be spared the typical 100+ degree temperatures (if you can believe weather forecasts).

And I also feel like I've now become a total cliche, as I'm blogging in an airport.  But free wireless is free wireless - thank you Sydney airport!