I’m writing from Alicante, Spain, where I have been in bed for 16 hours, rolling from one side of my pastel purple mattress cover to the other, considering getting up but instead aggressively reaching for another handful of chocolate covered peanuts.
Whether your period started yesterday or you’re just feeling a little blue (or both, like me), days spent in bed while abroad feel like an absolute waste. I’ve gone back and forth all day about getting out of the house but have only made several trips to the kitchen, the bathroom, and once, to the yoga mat (yoga with Erica Vetra on Youtube, check it). My guilt has doubled because yesterday was pitiful, too - after getting out of the house to go second-hand shopping I bought nothing and felt fat, walked home 30 minutes uphill with cramps, and downed three bottles of wine with some Italian friends only to talk about the state of the world (not positive). The highlight of the night was sitting on our balcony at 3:00, watching the old Spanish man below empty his flooded porch by dislodging Tatyana’s sock from the drain - a surprise to all of us - and we excitedly yelled to him that that was OUR sock, “Perdona, es nuestro calcentine!” Surprised (read: frightened), he tossed it up and I caught it, wet and limp. Today I, unfortunately, am Tatyana’s wet, limp (and nearly lost to the world) sock, personified. Luckily, I’m a little less guilty because I get be living in Alicante and will have many more days to enjoy it. But, on days I’m actually traveling and feeling like a wet sock, this is my 100% flawless feel-better-by-wine-o’clock routine: Wake up and watch all those travelers around me wander out of the hostel to explore, resent myself for being a massive lonely baby and lurk in my dim hostel room until I... A) Take a shower at 2:00, put something stretchy on and find a coffee nearby or B) Sit up at 3:00pm, judge last night’s makeup to be passable for round two, and pair an espresso with one of those cute little European 8oz beers. If, after hours of thoughtless scrolling I choose option A, I bring a good pen and my travel jOuRnaL (“journal” makes me feel like I’m twelve, but “diary” is worse) and sit down with that coffee and catch up on jOuRnaLinG. When done properly, this actually takes a good three hours and completely transforms my mindset. I feel accomplished because I’ve described my experiences in detail, there are a few less pages ‘till the end of my jOuRnAlll, plus thinking about past adventures transforms my stuck wet-sock-self into someone I’d actually enjoy hanging out with. Next step is finding friends and some dinner. It’s pretty obvious where option B gets me - mildly transformed, still holding onto a lil’ bit o that wet sock essence. But instead of accomplishing anything (like jerrrnalling), beer and caffeine solve my attitude issue. Regardless of whether I’ve got a cold, my feet hurt from yesterday’s walking tour, or I’m just down in the dumps, it’s important to come to terms with lying in bed. Plus, where do Europeans lie in bed all day? Europe.
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