Monday, May 19, 2008

Madrid, and then?

That's the curse of being human isn't it? Never really satisfied and never fulfilled fully in a present state? Tomorrow, quit smoking, less drinking, start running, stop eating five pints of ice-cream then throwing them up. Tomorrow, when I'm 20, 30, 40, when I leave this town that's gotten boring. When I live somewhere long enough to feel at home. Or am I the only one?
Monday night, beginning of my third week in Madrid and the thrill of getting to my destination is wearing off. I'd been traveling since October. Well, depending how I choose to look at it, traveling since August 2006. Then, a few months back I found myself stranded in Copenhagen with zero visibility to the path ahead and dead burnt out on travel. Returning to the place I grew up wasn't an option because that feels farther from home than anywhere in the world, so all I had to do was choose a place and commit. That place I eventually settled on was Madrid, Spain.
Six cities, two and a half months, 1650 miles or 2650 km later I am finally in this city I'd been dreaming of. The first moment of my arrival I felt I had come home. Through a series of coincidences or fate, I landed a lovely apartment in a lovely part of town and as soon as I arrived in Madrid, I headed to a place I could call my own more than any other place in the last seven months. There's a door here I can close when I want to be alone, and my own bed, or mattress on the floor. Regardless, it feels like mine.
Now, just over two weeks after my arrival, already getting restless in a settled state minus the benefits of real friends, connections, traditions, already wanting to look forward to future travel. I wanted to settle and now I want to be on the move. I thought I could be a more whole, complete, self-accepting person once I gave myself the chance to settle in. But so much for that. The only consistent state I've found is the state of procrastination. Tomorrow, I'll be a better person. Tomorrow, I'll feel comfortable in my own skin no matter where I go. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" and no matter how many adventures I have, the petty pace of life finds me, commuting in the metro, cooking dinner every night at home, in my sleep on my mattress on the floor.

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