A few days ago was our six month’s anniversary since we left America/ Orange County/ our Old Lives behind and became Traveling Nomads. It’s been quite an adventure and we have learned SO much about the world, ourselves, and each other. I don’t think I’ve ever known geography and different countries as well as I do today and even though we’ve been focused and traveling within Europe, we are still exploring “next steps.”
I put together a list of three different things:
> Things I have MISSED since we left
> Things I have NOT missed
> And the longest list, which includes things we’ve gotten used to.
The third list is the longest and brings to mind the “let it be” attitude since there are many things we cannot control in LIFE, and certainly not when you live a nomadic lifestyle.
Missed:
– I miss large grocery stores, where you can read every label and pretty much get what you want. Over much of our travels we only had small bodegas, ie, neighborhood stores where you can get some basic things, but not all. At a few of our bases we DID find decent sized supermarkets, including here in Romania, which makes shopping (and eating) much easier.
– I miss the ease of getting in my car (which I no longer have) and going to the “fill in the blank.” Market, beach, barbershop, you name it. In America we all (usually) have cars so are mobile and everything is convenient. Life on the road is not so easy and things need to be planned since it involves some form of public transportation or an Uber, when they are available.
– I miss signs and movies and things I can read in English! We take this for granted but over here much is unreadable and beyond our comprehension. Most movies we find ARE in English with native language sub titles. Thank God for technology! When we were in Croatia for two months we were always shocked how UN-readable signs in front of businesses were. Could be a butcher shop, florist or whatever, and we had no idea.
– I miss having a decent selection of clothing to wear- and I’m a dude! Kathleen has a much greater challenge, but since we carry what we wear we carry very little. This is easier in summer, but come winter we’ll have to stock up, but we’re moving towards warmer climates anyway. We have jettisoned half of what we LEFT with in February and concluded a while ago that it’s easier and cheaper to buy new stuff than carry old. Kind of a forced wardrobe makeover!
What I DO NOT miss:
– Since I don’t have a “home” I have few bills except for my credit card. No gas, electric, water, internet, etc… and accounting is much easier when you only have one bill to pay and to just keep an eye on one bank account.
– I don’t have a car, and I really don’t miss driving, especially Southern California driving. Rush hour traffic is mostly a thing of the past except for when we have access to a bike. Then we split lanes and pass the idling hoard! This is the downside of #2 above.
– I am pleasantly ignorant of all the shootings and crap that continue in America. Since we have been gone there have been several mass killings but I don’t follow any news feed and catch up only when the need drives me- which is seldom. Maybe it’s selfish, maybe it’s closed minded, but I have a different form of stress now, and much of THIS stress I can control.
What I’ve GOTTEN USED to (this is more fun!)
Along with missing or not missing things, some things just ARE: they be what they be, and can be desirable or not.
– Bus and train stations have PAY bathrooms, which can be awkward when you enter a new country and don’t have their currency. Airports are still free and no one calls these “bathrooms!” They are water closets, WCs, or toilettes. This is one you can’t fight so you roll with it.
– Speaking of…exchanging currency and using a currency calculator. Much of where we’ve been uses Euros, but Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia and Romania all use their own. It means a quick lesson in currency conversion and value vs the US dollar
– Since many menus are difficult to read due to language barriers, many times we order via pictures, which is an adventure in itself. Some have “English” menus, but not all.
– Our time differential to the west coast of America has ranged from 9-10 hours, so this is a fact of life and time, and we have to adjust accordingly since this one is impossible to fight! In one sense it’s cool since I check my mail in the morning and don’t really need to check it till the end of the day. In between the rest of America is sleeping.
– Uncertainty over mass transit, primarily buses and local transport. Trains I’ve gotten hip to, but bus stations are busy beehives and you have to be on top of things to be sure you’re at the right platform for your ride.
– Hand held shower heads SUCK, but they are the standard over here. Most can be manually removed, some can be aimed, but not all. Regardless, the shower head thing and the SIZE of the showers take getting used to. There are few downsides to being short, but some of the showers we have had could not handle anyone over 6 feet, so you tall people have my sympathy.
– The 24 hour clock has become almost second nature but I keep MINE on a 12 hour schedule. When someone says “1800 hours” I can do that calculation MUCH faster than before.
– Along those lines, metric is becoming easier, especially speed, ie, KPH vs. MPH. It’s kind of cool since a sign that says 100 km to Nirvana is really only 2/3 that far! The volume conversions, ie, liters, have been more challenging, but meters and derivatives are not too bad.
– And the last one, a pet peeve for Kathleen and myself, includes coffee. One thing you will NEVER hear over here: “Can I give you a warm up?” meaning, can the waitress or waiter top off the cup with hot coffee. Over here cups are super small, probably 8 oz or less, and they are most times WARM- not hot. We can complain and find our favorite places, but the fact is, we will probably get a small cup of warmish coffee- but it IS good!!
All in all we take the good with the bad and this lifestyle is not for everyone. What will the next six months teach us? We’ll let you know!
#expat, #expatlife, #metric, #metricsystem
