So I'm getting around to writing another blog post very soon after the last one, but unfortunately it's not for a happy reason. Earlier today a pickpocket stole my iPhone while we were on the metro in Barcelona.
This is the second time this has happened to me (my first iPhone was stolen out of my purse at a concert in Las Vegas). I can't believe I let it happen again, and I knew it was going to be a problem because people had already tried to rob us earlier in the day in the metro but we saw them trying to unzip the backpack. When we got back on the metro I just forgot to put the phone back in the bag, and sure enough someone was able to easily take it out of my pocket without me noticing. Since this isn't a new experience for me I'm not that torn up over it, I just know that once I'm not with Danielle anymore it's going to be harder for me to coordinate travel plans without a smartphone. I guess I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way and make plans before I go somewhere. I'm also sad that I no longer have a camera or an mp3 player. I guess that's why it's not a good idea to have all your eggs in one basket in that way.
I suppose there are reasons why I could see this as an oppportunity. I'm pretty sure I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I had been pondering my relationship with technology and how I have become so reliant on it, and that I find it in some ways freeing when I don't have to feel attached to electronic devices. So, here's my chance, just not the way I would have liked it. It also is quite relevant to part of a draft blog post I wrote the other day, so I will take the opportunity to quote myself here from those notes. I was also thinking about how I have been approaching money and my spending on this trip so far when I wrote this, so it is related to that as well:
"Even though we got to see a lot of sights [in Paris] without spending nearly as much money as I was expecting, sometimes it's frustrating that I constantly feel like I have to spend as little money as possible. Every time I spend money I question whether it is a necessary expense because even though I have plenty of money right now, I have to keep reminding myself that it has to last several more months if I want this trip to last. Every time we shop at a grocery store instead of going out to eat or debate whether to spend 1.70 euros on the metro to get somewhere, I wonder what it would be like if I could spend as much money as I wanted, or at least spend money in order to make things the most convenient instead of the cheapest. But then I realize that is not what this trip is about for me. I'm not doing this in order to feel like I'm "on vacation" the whole time. My main goal on this trip is to see beautiful sights around Europe but at the same time challenge myself and learn new things. If this journey didn't come with challenges I don't think I would get as much out of it. I don't think I should have everything come easily at this point in my life, I think I should have to struggle a little bit to get where I want to be because if it was easy I wouldn't learn as much. One thing I'm trying to work on is not getting to worked up over small things that go wrong or worrying about what I should have done in a given situation. Traveling is a great way to experience situations like that because there are so many opportunities for things to go wrong, like being delayed, missing trains, or having to change plans along the way. Every leg of this journey so far there have been instances, either big or small, when I say to myself, I should have done this differently, or why didn't I think of that before, but I just have to tell myself that everything is going to work out. Worrying about should-haves is not going to help me move forward, and all I can do it accept the situation for what it is and make a new plan based on the resources at hand. It hasn't always been easy but I think I'm getting better at not sweating the small stuff and rolling with the punches."
Little did I know when I wrote this how relevant it was really going to be. Like I already said, I'm not freaking out too much about this, mostly because I know that freaking out is not going to change the reality of the situation. It would only make my experience of it less pleasant. So I'm just being rational, doing what I have to do--like changing passwords for everything--to mitigate any other possible consequences, and accepting the fact that my traveling will probably be a little bit harder from now on. But it's a challenge I'm willing to accept because like I wrote before, this isn't supposed to be easy. Now I just have to decide if I want to try to get a new phone while I'm in Europe or try to do the rest of the trip without one. Also, even more so than before, posting pictures to this blog is going to be difficult, so unfortunately my posts might be a little word-heavy for a while. I might just buy some disposable cameras and take pictures with those if nothing else pans out.
Anyway, that's what's happening with me right now. Thanks for continuing to follow my travels on this blog, and wish me luck! :)
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