The honeymoon period is officially over.  I have been back in the US for about 3 weeks now and "real" life is finally smacking me in the back of the head in that taunting, douchey way when someone wants to remind you that you have been living in lala-land for the past 8 months and its time to wake up stupid.

The first week was fine, I had my friends wedding and then my parents were here in Florida to visit.  I got to spend some time in Weeki Wachee, on the Gulf Coast, and my parents in an unreal and spectacular gesture bought me a new car (an unfortunate necessity down here in Florida).  On week 2, the job searching began.  I almost forgot how much this part sucks.  Before my trip I had been working for the same company for over 3 years so applying and interviewing feels a little alien now.  Not to mention I am still not sure what I really want to do with my life, a frustrating place to be when you're thirty.  But, I think I have a plan.  I have decided to get a part-time or seasonal job for the time being, and one just came through this week.  I am officially a seasonal sales rep in the handbags division of Macy's...which is laughable because I have never in my life owned a high-end handbag like the ones I will be selling, and would definitely never, ever spend the kind of money I will be coaxing my customers into paying for these bags.  The most expensive bag I own is the $130 backpack I traveled the world with :)  At the same time, as to not completely negate my 4 year degree and 8 years of experience, I will continue to apply for non-agency marketing positions with companies that I actually care about.  Maybe the frustration I was feeling with my career was more about working in agency's up in NYC than the actual industry itself.  I guess we'll see.  If something comes through then great, if not I will continue working at Macy's until the right opportunity comes my way.  While I move forward with all of this I am going to continue my writing  and complete my novels and a new travel website that will be less about my personal journey and more about providing the tools and advice needed to make your own travel aspirations a reality.  I am hoping to launch the site early next year.  Writing is what I am most passionate about, so hopefully I can make a career out of it eventually. 

For the time being, or at least until my next friend gets married down here on November 30th, I will be staying in Orlando, which is excellent because I am a big fan of the weather down here this time of year, and I have been missing my friends here terribly.  Thankfully, my friends have offered me a place to stay so I don't have to worry too much about expenses aside from my car.   If nothing comes my way by the holidays I will likely be moving back to New Jersey for a little while to put aside some money and start paying off my traveling debts.  

So that is where I am at the moment.  This is the reality.  You don't always go on a trip like mine and come back all enlightened and everything just falls into place. I do feel recharged with a new perspective on the world and my place in it, and that is enough to get me to the step in this thing called life. I'll just keep plugging along and see where life takes me.  I'll continue to post from time to time when its relevant.  Thanks to everyone who has followed throughout my journey and up to this point.  It has been a fun ride, and I have definitely been bitten by the travel bug so there will be more adventures to come.

Fishing in Weeki Wachee with my parents on SS Old n' Busted

I'm an idiot.

No seriously, I really am a moron.  If you can remember so far back you may recall my little emergency at the very beginning of my trip, when I found out at the airport that I needed an Indian transit visa in order to complete the Mumbai to New Delhi leg of my trip to Nepal.  Luckily in this instance the airline was able to find me a more direct flight that would negate my need for the visa, and I was not charged a dime extra for the last minute flight change.  Well, that minor nuisance pales in comparison to the debacle I got myself into this time.  It only seems right that my nearly blemish-free 8 month journey would be flanked by flight issues, but the one in the beginning can be understood, I was a novice traveler, naive really.  This time I have no excuse for my stupidity.  I should have known better.  And this seemingly little mistake cost me, big time!

So what happened, Kristen?  Well, let me tell you.  This entire trip, from day 1, I have known without a doubt in my mind, that October 2nd was the day I was flying home.  Every step I have take has been to get me to Amsterdam no later than October 2nd to fly home.  So, you can imagine my surprise when I arrive at the airport the morning on October 2nd to find that my flight had actually been booked for October 1st!  This is where panic truely set in, for the first time in 8 months, I was having a legitimate breakdown.  I tried to keep my head as I ran around trying to figure out my options.  I absolutely needed to get home today in order to make it in time for my best friends wedding on October 4th.  Since I flat out missed my flight, it wasn't as simple as a flight change and a inconvenient fee.  Nope.  My only choice was to buy another ticket, at an astronomical rate.  The cheapest flight I could find going out that morning was a round trip British Airways flight for just over $1000.  Aside from that, actually booking the flight became an ordeal.  I was trying to avoid an additional $75 fee for booking through an agent, so I was attempting to buy the ticket using my phone.  The wifi was incredibly weak, so I had trouble getting through, and when I finally did my credit card would not work.  Next step was to call my credit card company who assured me the charge would go through.  It didn't.  I then continued to run through the airport to find the British Airways desk and get their help.  It was around 9:30 at this point and the flight I needed to book and then catch departed at 10:55AM, so I was running short on time.  Finally, I was able to find the airline help desk and have them book my ticket. 

At the end of the day I made it back to Orlando, Florida in time to be a bridesmaid in my friends wedding.  Moral of the story, never trust your memory when it comes to important flights.  When I booked my flights I should have set reminders in my calendar, and I definitely should have checked my flight records several days before the flight.  Very expensive lesson learned.  Now all I have to worry about is how to pay off my credit card.  At least I have a month to figure that out.

Oh - and I have a return flight to Amsterdam for December.  Maybe I'll just use that :)

I think I can safely say that I got the most out of my last 3 days of my 8 month journey around the world.  What better place to end such an adventure then the city of Amsterdam.  I am proud to say that I didn't go on a total wild bender.  As any good Amsterdamian knows, balance is the key to really getting the most out of this city. 

I started by doing a free walking tour of the city, which was actually quite good despite the fact that our tour guide was an expat from New Jersey.  Free walking tours tend to be the best way to see a city as the guides try much harder than someone who is being paid, since they depend solely on tips.  I wasn't blown away by the beauty of the city, I found it a little dull and lacking in the old European charm of many of the other places I've been. However, the city has a rather vast and important history in Europe and around the world.  This is probably my bad, but I never even realized that New York used to be New Amsterdam.  The New World's most important port city actually went between the hands of the British and the Netherlands several times, until the Netherlands decided it was no longer worth the effort to keep it - admittedly a big mistake.  I also found their policy on tolerance and balance particularly interesting.  From hard-core prostitution to soft-core drugs, Amsterdam would seem to be the epitome of an out-of-control party town, but to the contrary they make it work.   You can walk through the streets at night and feel safe, and the drugs and prostitution is legal but controlled.  In fact, by legalizing marijuana the government can collect taxes on it, and there is a line item particularly for prostitution when filing your taxes.  And here is another fun fact for you...Amsterdam is not even in the top 10 pot smoking countries (The US, Canada, Italy and New Zealand make that list).  Most of the smoking is done by visitors, not residents of the Netherlands.  I guess when something is legal it is less of a draw.

I also did partake in a bit of the tomfoolery (so happy I have a reason to use that word).  I met a few fellow travelers in my hostel when I heard them talking about the free walking tour and recommended we all go together.  They were a fun crew, 2 girls and a guy from Australia, and a couple from...Canada I think.  We ate panakuken, walked the red light district, visited a "coffee" shop, ate a space cake, smoked in the street, and even saw a live sex show.  That last one was actually quite disturbing...can't say I recommend it.