I [went] on an adventure!!!
Hello friends! Happy Thursday. I hope you and yours are doing well!
In case you were wondering, I had a wonderful time on vacation! I also truly didn't know what day was what, so when Thursday came around, half the time, I thought it was a Tuesday. There is something both so relaxing and lovely about not having a concept of time (minus the day I knew 100% was Friday due to transit strikes lmao I didn't know one fear until realizing I might be trapped in Venice for the night).
But! Anyway - onto the world.
Actually, no, fuck the world. I spent over 10 days not checking social media and then I came back and glimpsed at it and the world is still on fire, so why should this be another place where I tell you that? I'm sure you already know. It's also fun because I discovered that a lot of the links I send you all, I acquire from Twitter, a website I don't feel like going on! So, this will all be an adventure.
I did rewatch the TedTalk of Luvvie Ajayi Jones, "Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable," which could've been the title of my vacation. Nothing like going somewhere where you don't speak the language (and they speak yours! And you feel a little ignorant and dumb!!), but also just the feeling of putting yourself out there when it feels so easier to just stay comfy.
I watched a ton of movies in the last few days - Nope, Bullet Train, Thor: Love and Thunder, Inception, Angels & Demons, and Gladiator. I recommend the last two if you wanna see Rome in past and present (and there's nothing like a British comedian in your tour group bullying you for not watching Gladiator before going to the Coliseum!). But overall, I recommend Nope and Inception! Nope was fascinating and creepy and made me scream on a plane (much to the chagrin of my seat neighbor), and Inception is an old classic.
Also on vacation, I finished four books! I recommend Fireborne if you enjoy a good YA political fantasy. Everything else was just a little weird!
But strangely enough, I did not consume much content while on vacation! I also did not relax (have we met??), but there was something beautiful/horrifying about sitting on a bench in Venice and stressing about life. Or standing next to the Trevi Fountain and wondering if I was doing this whole trip wrong. Or learning that Switzerland doesn't really like when you spend Euros, fuck.
One day I'll do a vacation to relax and I will spontaneously combust and that will be the end of me.
Wow - this whole newsletter is all over the place! Apologies - I am still recovering from jet lag and a cold (but not covid! I checked!). But I will leave you with this: for as strategically as you can plan something - your life, your vacation, it is super important to also leave room for random shit. Did I have a lovely vacation? Yes. Were two of my favorite days the days I randomly decided to a) go to Venice last minute, and b) go to the Tuscany countryside for a wine tour (you know I don't drink! Yet I did!) where I proceeded to make some amazing friends?? Yes.
And I have no idea if I'm telling you, dear reader, or I'm just letting myself know as a reminder.
Recommendations!
In case you were wondering, I had a wonderful time on vacation! I also truly didn't know what day was what, so when Thursday came around, half the time, I thought it was a Tuesday. There is something both so relaxing and lovely about not having a concept of time (minus the day I knew 100% was Friday due to transit strikes lmao I didn't know one fear until realizing I might be trapped in Venice for the night).
But! Anyway - onto the world.
Actually, no, fuck the world. I spent over 10 days not checking social media and then I came back and glimpsed at it and the world is still on fire, so why should this be another place where I tell you that? I'm sure you already know. It's also fun because I discovered that a lot of the links I send you all, I acquire from Twitter, a website I don't feel like going on! So, this will all be an adventure.
I did rewatch the TedTalk of Luvvie Ajayi Jones, "Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable," which could've been the title of my vacation. Nothing like going somewhere where you don't speak the language (and they speak yours! And you feel a little ignorant and dumb!!), but also just the feeling of putting yourself out there when it feels so easier to just stay comfy.
I watched a ton of movies in the last few days - Nope, Bullet Train, Thor: Love and Thunder, Inception, Angels & Demons, and Gladiator. I recommend the last two if you wanna see Rome in past and present (and there's nothing like a British comedian in your tour group bullying you for not watching Gladiator before going to the Coliseum!). But overall, I recommend Nope and Inception! Nope was fascinating and creepy and made me scream on a plane (much to the chagrin of my seat neighbor), and Inception is an old classic.
Also on vacation, I finished four books! I recommend Fireborne if you enjoy a good YA political fantasy. Everything else was just a little weird!
But strangely enough, I did not consume much content while on vacation! I also did not relax (have we met??), but there was something beautiful/horrifying about sitting on a bench in Venice and stressing about life. Or standing next to the Trevi Fountain and wondering if I was doing this whole trip wrong. Or learning that Switzerland doesn't really like when you spend Euros, fuck.
One day I'll do a vacation to relax and I will spontaneously combust and that will be the end of me.
Wow - this whole newsletter is all over the place! Apologies - I am still recovering from jet lag and a cold (but not covid! I checked!). But I will leave you with this: for as strategically as you can plan something - your life, your vacation, it is super important to also leave room for random shit. Did I have a lovely vacation? Yes. Were two of my favorite days the days I randomly decided to a) go to Venice last minute, and b) go to the Tuscany countryside for a wine tour (you know I don't drink! Yet I did!) where I proceeded to make some amazing friends?? Yes.
And I have no idea if I'm telling you, dear reader, or I'm just letting myself know as a reminder.
Recommendations!
- If you're traveling? Check out Airalo. YO - despite a small snafu in setting it up that was 100% my fault, they were amazing. It basically allows you to pay for data in what ever phone company in the country you're traveling with an e-sim. I bought 5 gigs and legit only used 3 (for example of useage, I kept my location on in Venice because getting lost there was difficult to turn around retrace your steps). Highly recommend!
- Speaking of movies, I also watched The Menu. Y'all that is a strange film. I only watched it because one of the actors from Critical Role was in it but I truly loved watching it. It's weird. It shows what happens when you work hard in your creative field and your creative field chews you up, spits you out, and still demands more. .____.
- This is a recommendation for the United States: fix your fucking trains. All of them. It should not take me less time to go from Milan to Switzerland - INCLUDING CUSTOMS - then it does for me to get to downtown Manhattan. Why was I on a clean, comfortable, beautiful train that went 290 km/hr while fucking Amtrak thinks about maybe going 60mph on Acela??? Fix this.
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