In the hustle and bustle of daily life, I've entirely forgotten this blog. It's a real shame; when I had it going, it was something to behold. Two jobs and life will do that to you, I guess.
It's been interesting, though, seeing how travel shapes the way you view things when you come back. I've been rather surprised at the shift in my mentality-- from being entirely apathetic to museums to wanting to see absolutely everything; from avoiding restaurants like the plague to delighting whenever I find a new cafe, or rushing to try out new restaurants.
The thing I can say most substantially about my time abroad is that it really did shift the way I look at things. It gave meaning to things that were formerly meaningless; it replaced apathy with appreciation. Things that were commonplace before have now become triggers for memories, prompting me to stop in the middle of walking and snap photos of commonplace items, such as graffiti, signs, landscapes. But the shift in perspective is priceless, I think, just because suddenly life is an adventure.
You don't need to travel abroad to have that kind of mindset, I'm sure; there are people who naturally appreciate where they are, who go out of their way to learn every aspect of their hometown inside out, just to be able to say that they know all the interesting tidbits of information. But a good portion of the people I meet are just like I was before I left for Russia: apathetic, only interested in the things that directly affect their daily lives, maybe running out to do something just because it's famous enough that it would be embarrassing if they never went.
Even now, I'm wishing that I could go back and see more things in St. Petersburg. There were museums that I missed, famous paintings that I never saw; concert halls I never attended, foods I never tried. But at the same time, I appreciate my time back in Los Angeles, because now I'm looking at my city through the perspective of a traveler. Life, I think, is so much better when you're a constant tourist.
It's been interesting, though, seeing how travel shapes the way you view things when you come back. I've been rather surprised at the shift in my mentality-- from being entirely apathetic to museums to wanting to see absolutely everything; from avoiding restaurants like the plague to delighting whenever I find a new cafe, or rushing to try out new restaurants.
The thing I can say most substantially about my time abroad is that it really did shift the way I look at things. It gave meaning to things that were formerly meaningless; it replaced apathy with appreciation. Things that were commonplace before have now become triggers for memories, prompting me to stop in the middle of walking and snap photos of commonplace items, such as graffiti, signs, landscapes. But the shift in perspective is priceless, I think, just because suddenly life is an adventure.
You don't need to travel abroad to have that kind of mindset, I'm sure; there are people who naturally appreciate where they are, who go out of their way to learn every aspect of their hometown inside out, just to be able to say that they know all the interesting tidbits of information. But a good portion of the people I meet are just like I was before I left for Russia: apathetic, only interested in the things that directly affect their daily lives, maybe running out to do something just because it's famous enough that it would be embarrassing if they never went.
Even now, I'm wishing that I could go back and see more things in St. Petersburg. There were museums that I missed, famous paintings that I never saw; concert halls I never attended, foods I never tried. But at the same time, I appreciate my time back in Los Angeles, because now I'm looking at my city through the perspective of a traveler. Life, I think, is so much better when you're a constant tourist.
