State of Place

I’m getting homesick for travel, for places to shine despite their normality. Buying groceries in a May Berlin drizzle, knowing the next few days will also be cold and wet. Homesick for the apartment we went in and out of in the rain, and how that added to its value.

Maybe it’s something (or lack thereof) from infancy that makes me miss being swaddled into a city by my host, playing follow the leader, ducking into the subway seemingly at random, having to watch for an eyebrow pop or head nod as the stations tick off, and following again through the crowd as tunnels are chosen and we eventually emerge I don’t know where. Not having to deduce atmosphere and vibe from façades, guidebooks and a peek in the door (fun as that is), just being towed into pre-certified spots—for the view, the music, the terrace, the crowd and always a drink.

Homesick for lying on the lawn of Vienna’s greenhouse, leaving to buy a chain-food lunch (low funds) and then back to the grass. The worst seats in the Budapest Opera. Living with four Italian dudes in Granada and being force-fed Illy four times a day. Rolling the clichéd cig-after-the-morning-coffee because the Drum just happens to be there. All the things I never planned to do.

You too ever?

OK, so this post might have appeared on a prior blog about two years ago, but it needed to be here, today. A necessary place at a certain time. I’m sure you can relate.

Photo by Alexispz via Flickr

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