Few truths to traveling

I have found only a few truths during my time of traveling:

#1 - I get homesick
I always equate home with food. My staple meal in the states is Neoguri. Neoguri is a type of Korean Top Ramen only it consists of udon noodles and a very spicy seafood broth. It is both delicious and addicting. I have it probably at least once a week.

Last week I started craving it, and thought that it was a sign of me getting homesick (along with the feeling of missing Rob terribly). I vowed to hunt it down once we were back in Buenos Aires.

Within the first few hours of arriving, having not showered for four days (there was no running water in Piramides) I left Tom and Maya´s apartment with a mission to find Neoguri. Conveniently, Chinatown was located just 12 blocks away. The mission wasn´t too difficult, I found it right away thanks to Talya´s advice as to which store to go to for a good ramen selection. I was so excited when I was able to hold that package of ramen near my heart. I shared my glee with Azure, Mike, and Talya by making each of them their very own bowls of Neoguri, so that they too could enjoy and experience the wonders of Neoguri.

#2 - You´re gonna get dirty

I´ve given up on dirt. I´m friends with dirt now. I almost didn´t want to take a shower once I got to Tom and Maya´s since I had already gone a few days without one, but I knew that was socially unacceptable. I wear the same outfits over and over and over and over. My sneakers are covered in dirt. The overnight buses are never guaranteed to be clean. Azure turned on the vent in our car after we were on the dirt roads for a few hours and dirt came spewing into the car. My fingernails constantly have dirt under them. There´s just no point in fighting it.

#4 - Everything seems much more exotic that it really is.

I always felt as though I was missing out on an experience whenever I read about other peoples travel experiences or how great and exotic it must have been. I think I idealize a lot of places and situations. I remember watching a segment about Iguazu Falls on Planet Earth. It looked mystical, grande, and awesome. I was really looking forward to visiting it. When we arrived to the Argentinian side of the falls, it was the most touristy park I´ve ever been to.

Buenes Aires is a great city, but when you´re sitting in the cafe, watching others pass, living their lives, it´s not really any different than being anywhere else. Everyone is just living day by day, and I´m lucky that I´m able to witness some of those days, but I guess that I realized that once you´ve visited an area the mystery is no longer there and it seems much more ¨normal¨ than I had envisioned it.

#4 - There will always be highs and lows

The most positive thing to do is to embrace those times. There have been times when I feel as though I am on top of the world, there is nowhere I would rather be, and nothing else I would rather be doing, I feel as though I am living my life and there is a great feeling of accomplishment, then the next minute I´m on the verge of tears due to frustration.

I am traveling with some of my closest friends and even now after almost ten years of friendship, they cannot read my mind. While communication is not my strongest asset and I continue to struggle with it, I have found many circumstances that have forced me to say what is truly on my mind. It has become therapeutic in many ways, and I honestly don´t know why it´s taken me so long to actually practice this.

I believe our friendships have become stronger because of it and that I have grown a little more. I know that if there is any lesson to take back with me from this experience, it is that openly communicating with others is always the only way to resolve any issue, and an important practice to maintain a happy, healthy and stress-free life.