the more you know.

we know that it is inevitable that when you travel, you learn. being recently back from a journey to amsterdam & belgium, i thought i'd share some learnin's. hopefully you will not find it *too* mundane.

•maps should be used as a last resort - it's more fun to find your way back/to/from/here/there/home.
•of course i can feel this way because i am blessed with a damn good sense of direction. but when that fails, i also like to be lost.
•while i only enjoy american pancakes sometimes, i could enjoy dutch pancakes almost all the time.
•maryjane is fun to hang out with here and there, but she's the kind of girl that gets boring after a while.
•if you're gonna hang out with mary, don't forget your sunglasses. what a pain in the ass.
•eavesdropping is fantastic. even if you don't understand most of what's being said.
•i will absolutely eat food out of an automat. and with gusto. krokets are a crunchy little piece of heaven.
•the vegetarian meals on the plane are not always better.
•bikes are cooler in amsterdam.
•anne frank's father barely knew the anne that we all know from the diary. this makes me sad.
•belgian waffles aren't really better in belgium, unless covered in belgian chocolate.
•when you are on vacation avoid checking your work e-mail at all costs. this means leave the crackberry at home. being completely inaccessible is fucking liberating.
•vacation shouldn't end until the jet-lag wears off. but it does.
•when writing on vacation, write every day. it's too hard to go back and fill in the blanks.
•amsterdam has a very new york feeling about it. i could absolutely live there.
•drunk people are way way way more obnoxious than stoned people. you can see this very clearly in amsterdam where cafe's are side by side.
•the red light district creeped me out more than i thought. the red lights mixed with the black lights is sinister and sad.
•i can go longer than i thought without showering. even in places where showers are completely accessible.
•i enjoy when people ask me for directions when i'm traveling, even when i can't really help them. i have a special "i-don't-look-like-a-tourist" grin.
•there are an oddly high number of south american steak-houses in amsterdam. anyone know why?
•i like the young dutch cheese a little bit better than the old dutch cheese. but not much.
•vondelpark is a calming place. better than valium.
•chocolate sprinkles on bread with butter rocks. mmmm.
•i finally mastered the art of not overpacking. it's about time.
•not trying to speak the native language in the place i'm visiting, even if everyone speaks english, makes me feel like i'm cheating.
•instead of wanting to come home, traveling always makes me want to travel more.