Perhaps a Little Too Civilized

Yesterday, I took a day to do nothing. I was entirely exhausted, moving around so much and really needed it. I got up late, lounge at the hostel, talked to fellow travelers and read my book. My ass left the couch for an hour of so when I went to explore the town of Galway, but that was pretty much it.

I was in Belfast, Ireland for a couple of days and had an absolute blast. I went on a tour bus to see the coast and Giants Causeway, and despite feeling like a senior citizen, it was amazing. I even flexed my muscles with a little free climbing on the rocks, kicking off my flip flops and going up the wall. The Asian tourists gasped and of course, shot some video of me doing it. It was a blast. I met a couple of solo girls on the bus and we ended up exploring together. That night, we went out to an Irish pub and I ended up hanging out with a Rugby team out of Dublin all night. Of course, that meant copious amounts of whiskey and beer and included staggering into the KFC on the corner at 3 am for fried chicken. I made friends with the bouncers out front and watched a guy try to fight them. It felt almost like home, except the boys all had adorable accents and they outnumbered the girls 30-1. I made it back to my hostel in one piece and tried to quitely get in bed, but I'm pretty sure I failed and managed to wake up the girls sleeping above and beside me. I have to say that Irish boys are incredibly welcoming to us solo traveling girls.

The next day, I woke up bright and early and took the morning train to Galway. I'm not really sure why I came here, except for the surf and the Cliffs of Moher aka The Cliffs of Insanity (Princess Bride reference obviously). The cliffs were amazing, but I'm kind of over cliffs by now. The surf was wicked, but fun. I'm really rusty and hope to get non-rusty in Bali.

Today, I am heading to Dublin. One of my friends from the States is flying in tomorrow and it will be great to see a friendly face from home. I'll be in Dublin until Friday, and then I fly to Faro, Portugal to meet some other friends from the States. I'll have 5 days with them and then I am finally flying to Bangkok to settle in South East Asia for the next year. I plan to volunteer teach in Cambodia and Laos. I can't wait to get down there. Europe is gorgeous and has so much history, but truth be told, it's a little too predictable and a litte too civilized for me. It has also absolutely killed my budget, so I will have to make up for that in SE Asia somehow. With rooms in guesthouses at $3 a night, it shouldn't be too hard.

Off to catch my train to Dublin now.

Peace, love and joy from Galway, Ireland.

Lara