After 24 hours, I decided I'd had enough of the tourist buzz of Goreme and moved onto the village of Uchisar not far away but much more tranquil. I spent the morning walking around the Goreme Open Air Museum which is an area of rock-cut and frescoed Byzantine churches from the 10th and 11th centuries. They are quite phenomenal.
Today I am realizing the one benefit of having a travel partner; today is one of those days I could really use someone to tell me jokes, cheer me up, just help keep my spirits up. Today is one of those days I'm realizing how much the company of other people helps balance the tendency for our own thinking to spiral and go in circles. Humans needs other humans and being alone for too long without fresh perspective or someone to just rib you and tease you can get tiring.
But when I travel, I'm selfish about what I want to see and do so I figure it's just better to travel alone. There are great advantages to traveling solo like meeting lots of people and doing whatever your heart desires at the spur of the moment but the downsides include having no one to hang out with at night (unless you happen to meet someone on the road) and mainly, having no one to share the burden of making all the decisions, of taking care of all the necessities. There are times I'd just like to say, "Okay, where are we eating for dinner tonight? Could you please choose?"
Today, I need someone silly by my side to poke me. I'm not sure why but I feel like a ton of bricks. I'm dragging my feet and my head feels bloated and all I really want to do is eat something without having to try too hard and go back to my pretty room with pretty pillows and look out the windows for awhile and fall asleep.
I think part of what's wearing me down is that my back is STILL hurting and I don't want to take pain killers every single day so some days I go without and just bear it. So being in pain all day, even on the good days when it's just a dull pain, zaps my energy. Yep, I'm still doing stretching and watching my posture and I think I'm just going to have to wait until I'm back in the States and can get a chiropractor to snap it back into place. It feels like a disc is out.
My health is definitely going to be a top priority when I get home. My poor immune system has worked overtime. I'll probably need to do checks for parasites and get my teeth looked at after all that Moroccan sugary tea.
However, don't get me wrong: while I am tiring of travel and the constant decision making and constant change (unpacking and packing up every day) and while I am actually ready to come home (despite still being a bit anxious about my re-entry) where I can understand people and (enter the Cheers theme song) everybody knows (or at least can pronounce) my name, I am already planning my next trip.
I believe South America is what I will start saving for as soon as I can pay my mortgage and my other bills. :)
