Today was awesome. I have had a fantastic weekend actually - and a good portion of what has made it so good is that I have been on my own. My introverted nature has been overshadowed by social activity more than usual lately, and I desperately needed some time for me. Don't get me wrong, I've had a fabulous life lately, dinners out, bbq's, nights out on the town, dating a guy I'm actually really into...it's been good times. But I had neglected the side of me who gets disproportionately excited about running to the store to buy popcorn kernels to cook them the old-fashioned way and curling up to watch a movie on my couch. The side that loves putting on last.fm music and cleaning my room and leafing through memories found in photos and cards.
And perhaps most importantly, I'd forgotten my crazy spontaneous side. So last night I had the gloriously random idea to go SOMEWHERE in the UK today. Couldn't think of where, so I decided to pull up a map of London, zoom out to where I could go for a day trip, close my eyes, spin around, and point! My result: Bedford. Never heard of it, know nothing about it, but it was an hour train away, so I looked at the town map online and saw it looked interesting enough. And it was perfect!
I got up around 9:00, sh
owered and headed to St. Pancras, took the train through the countryside and read my book on the way (The Year of Living Biblically - more on that later maybe). Arrived around 11, and set off to find the river, since it looked like a nice spot. There was a church called Bunyan free church, with pretty courtyard, and then the grounds where Bedford castle stood before the siege in the 13th century or something like that. It was cool because there was this circle of stones on the top of a hill telling the story, so I sat there and wrote in my notebook for a while, read a little, and then went down to the river below.
It was so pretty! I mean yes, it's just another riverfront town, but it was exactly what I needed! There were parks with people playing rugby and football/soccer, beautiful flowers
and tree-lined sidewalks, and my favorite part was this sign at a restaurant advertising their Sunday Roast - EAT MEAT. The timing was hilarious - I was trying to decide whether to fast all day or just start my diet for the next two weeks, and whether I should have meat or just cut out bread and dairy as planned...and I see the sign from across the pond. So of course, I go eat meat :).
The meal was yummy, and in such a picturesque setting. I sat in the sun surrounded by couples and families, and was totally content. I actually like eating out by myself, but sometimes it takes a little while to get over the awkwardness of being a single diner - mainly from the the feeling people are watching you curiously. This time I didn't have any qualms at all, as I was in travel mode, which is when I'm most comfortable alone anyway. I even stuck around to enjoy dessert and tea!
From there I wandered back to the station and headed home, crashing for a nap - all the sun wore out my pale UK resident complexion ;). When my flatmate got home and I told her my random selection method for things to do on a Sunday, she laughed and said that was crazy...which I guess it is. She was more hung up on the fact that I did it by myself too, which I can understand. It's not that normal to enjoy traveling alone as much as I do. But I do. And that's one of the things I hold onto and think to myself when other people look at me like I've got two heads when I say I don't want to get married. I do such a good job in my social butterfly imitation mode these days that I sometimes feel I even have myself fooled...it just takes a weekend alone to bring me back to my most comfortable version of reality.
