Youthful Inhibition Unhinged: Back in London

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.
--John Lennon

I think it's very important to be young.
--Paris Hilton

I was reminded of the two quotes above based on two totally unconnected events over the last few days:

1) I went to the British Library, an amazing collection of literary and musical artifacts ranging from Beowulf to the Beatles. I listened to the Beatles sing "Help" on headphones while reading their original lyrics scrawled on a scrap piece of paper. I also got to see one of the first printed copies of Romeo & Juliet with a different ending...intriguing. Definitely one of the best places to visit in London and reminded me how very much I love the written word.

2) The Paris Hilton quote was given to me by my friend Kim years ago (amazing, by the way), but I thought about it a lot while we were in Paris where, believe it or not, I qualified for a "young person's discount." No, my height did not lead them to believe that I was a child; they actually have a separate price category at virtually every museum and historical site (even the Eiffel Tower!!) for "young persons: ages 18-25". And I thought to myself, this is brilliant! I am in the age group that wants to travel and do all these cool things, but has much less disposable income and is probably more easily swayed to do or not do something based on approximately a $2-$5 discount. What was even more exciting was that Shelley and I did not account for this discount when budgeting for our trip (wasn't mentioned in any of the guidebooks -- apparently Rick Steves is a little older than 25) and if we had gone a year later she wouldn't have qualified, but as it was it worked out perfectly. I think that, for the purposes of this trip, it was very important to be young.

All that to say, though, I feel a little more like John Lennon and a little less like Paris Hilton at this stage of our trip. We entered this trip agreeing that our goal was to get as much as we possibly could out of our short time in Europe, by which we meant seeing and experiencing as many different things as we could possibly fit into as many waking hours as we could possibly handle. And, up until yesterday, we've stayed pretty much true to our intended mission. We have been going 100 miles per hour the whole time, and have been able to see/accomplish an amazing amount in a short time, but I am finally reaching the point at which I have realized that, in spite of being young, I am not invincible. I am not immune to the laws of nature. I am not capable of giving 100%, 100% of the time. I need sleep. I need rest. I need pauses in my day. And for the first 24 hours or so of realizing this, I felt guilty. I shouldn't need to slow down, I figured; it would be a waste of money and time and was surely, at root, just laziness. But I have now slowly come around to the realization that, no matter how old are young, everyone needs down times. That's why there's a Sabbath. That's why even super high-powered executives sometimes take weekends. So I am considering these last few days the "weekend" of our trip. We are seeing, but less. We are walking, but at a slower pace. We are savoring these last few days, enjoying time with my friends Philip and Lisa (the most amazing hosts ever), and getting excited about coming home soon and showing everyone our pictures!

Speaking of which: who wants to come hang out and see all my pictures? I'll be rested enough by that point to give you all the descriptions--in real time. Don't all jump at once, please. There's plenty of time for all of you. :)