Skip to main content

One month back, and I'm...working on it

Hey friends,

I've been back in the United States for a month. It's been an emotional whirlwind of ups and downs, a little more stateside travel, some serious readjustment, a major binge of Parks and Rec (how have I never watched this show!?), and plenty more that I'll get into later.
Last backpack photo! (At 4:30am, after pulling an all-nighter)

You may have noticed it's been a while since I've last updated the blog. I've started drafts of the remainder of my time in France and Spain, vaguely thought about relaying my epic adventure through Ukraine with my partner Scott, and imagined how I would handle documenting my return to the states and trips to New York and Denver. However, I haven't been able to bring myself to publish anything. I think I've been in a bit of a funk since I've been back that I can't really define or describe. Instead of attempting to catch up, I figured I'd start from where I am now and write more about my final adventures later.

I did some research on "post-travel depression" while I was still abroad and thought I could sidestep PTD by doing some traveling for a month before I headed back to Minneapolis to cobble my stateside life back together. I had a trip planned to Denver and a 2-week roadtrip out to DC. I figured traveling in the states would slowly ease me back into American culture before I felt the need to find a job, apartment, etc.

Can't beat that Kansas sunrise.
However, a week into returning, I decided I was pretty tired of sleeping on people's couches and spending long amounts of time traveling. I didn't feel like doing much of anything that wasn't related to getting my life back in order. I changed my roadtrip to DC to a flight to DC, and ultimately canceled that flight. I spent a lot of time going through my clothes and apartment stuff. Due to my new penchant for minimalism (try not being a minimalist after living out of a backpack for 15 months) and a slight weight gain around my middle it was easy to jettison a fair amount of my wardrobe. The fear of having to move a monsterload of things back up to Minnesota made it easy to winnow down my apartment knickknacks to basically my kitchen equipment.

I had a great five days in Colorado with my friend Jason (who I met in Croatia in April) but drove back up to
Minneapolis two days after returning so I could jump into job interviews and apartment hunting. Five planned days in Minneapolis turned to eleven, as I canceled my trip to DC and didn't want to come home to an empty house- parents took a trip to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead. The trip was successful, as I've managed to secure a job to work during the legislative session before I (likely) start graduate school next summer, and I found a lovely duplex in Northeast to share with my friend Joelle.

I drove back home to Kansas Tuesday, where I'll remain until next week, when I Officially drive back up to Minneapolis. My new job starts this month, and I move into my new apartment in December. So it's all coming back together, and I'm feeling a little more solid and secure with my future. Not that I actually worried too much about it, but overall I'm feeling better than I was a few weeks ago.

Regardless, it's good to be back. I'm ready to brave the Minneapolis winter and be back at the Capitol next session. I'm ready to have my own kitchen and cook my own food again. I'm ready to drink beer in taprooms with old and new friends.

Speaking of, my birthday's coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm throwing a party. I would love to see you at Bauhaus on the 19th!

Love you all. I'll be sure to write more soon(ish)!

Sophie


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Io non parlo Italiano. Un poco, poco, poco.": My adventures in learning Italian.

The first of many, many, espresso My first hour in Italy, I successfully ordered an espresso, thanks to the brief time I spent listening to "Learn Italian!" podcasts while driving to the Capitol on cold February mornings. That was essentially the extent of my Italian. Since then, it's been two weeks of trial and error, mixing Spanish and French into what I think might  be Italian, and sitting quietly at dinner, absorbing the rapid fire of conversation from my coworkers and new friends. As anyone who has immersed themselves in a situation where they don't speak the language might know, it's very easy to zone out and stop concentrating. I learned to zone out this way at American Village- when I pretended to not know any French, I really practiced it by not even trying to understand what a camper was trying to ask me. "I don't speak French! Try again..." I continued this habit of zoning out in my new Italian environment mostly at the dinner tabl...

My farmstay in Hotnitsa, Bulgaria: A chance to be vegan, getting back on a bike, plus a recipe from yours truly!

“Here,” he said, handing me a pair of latex gloves. “You might need these.” It’s my first night on the organic farm in Hotnitsa, Bulgaria , and my host Rodo is warning me of the spiciness of the chili peppers he gave me. “Seriously, don’t touch your eyes or nose after you handle them. They’re dangerous.” Part of the farm on a foggy morning Earlier that day, Rodo gave me a tour of the farm, stopping ever so often to pile more veggies into my arms. Green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and the aforementioned chilies , Rodo’s specialty. Rodo, originally from France, has been in Hotnitsa since about 2008. A former investment banker, he gave up consulting and bought a homestead in a small village outside of Veliko Tarnovo. He grows strictly organic, sells his produce in markets, and does his best to give back to the land. Average day on the farm I met Rodo online through Workaway , an organization that connections volunteers with hosts worldwide. In exchan...

An introduction

Any time I tried to start a diary, I would immediately relinquish all the vital details of my current life. "Dear Diary, my name is Sophie Wallerstedt. I am 11 years old and in the fifth grade. I live in Louisburg, KS with my mom and dad, my sister Jane and my brother Max, and five cats, a dog..." I never got very far. I ended up boring myself with my own mundane details, and as a result I have multiple journals tucked away in various boxes and bookcases, only the first few pages used. But blogs could be different, right? This trip is going to be long, and I want to keep track of it, but I'm horrible with writing things down long term (unless it's MyFitnessPal - I have 2014 in my back pocket). So every time I told someone about my big trip, I also said, "you can follow me on my blog!" The more I said it, the more I believed it. Accountability, friends. That's what you're here for. Hopefully you'll also be entertained. ...