The Royal Gorge

Well, I've been talking about bruises and urgent care for the last few days, so it's probably time to start recapping the whitewater rafting adventure that caused the whole thing. And it's a novel. This will be part one, and it's not even going to involve any rafting. My parents booked us on a day-long "Raft-n-Rail" trip with Echo Canyon River Expeditions. We arrived in the morning for a 9:30 am train ride through the Royal Gorge, which was followed by lunch, which was followed by whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River. So for now we're going to start with the train ride, mostly so I can dump a whole bunch of pretty pictures here. Sound good? ;)

Everything is centralized at the main office/check-in area; that's where you go before the company transports you to the train station, rafting locations, etc. So when we arrived at check-in, we were soon put on a van with another couple on the same trip package. This would've been a completely innocuous detail if it weren't for how out of place these two people were; he was wearing a button-down shirt and khakis, and she was wearing a short shift dress and stilettos. This place is in the middle of nowhere and hands out wetsuits, and her outfit... I just... don't understand. But anyway.

Our seats on the train were in coach, but there were several open-air cars that all passengers were allowed to use should they want to. My mom initially decided to stay inside, but my dad and I headed out there to check out the views with the intent of coming back inside at some point.

Spoiler alert: we did not go back inside.

It was (obviously) SO. BEAUTIFUL. The weather was gorgeous (and not too hot thanks to the breeze), and the movement of the train was so peaceful and soothing. It was quite heavenly and did a great job of luring me into a false sense of security about this rafting thing. BUT more on that later this week!

Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Studied Abroad

Today is the third anniversary of my departure from London after my semester studying abroad. I, for one, can't believe it's been that long... nor can I believe that I'm still sitting here talking about it after that much time. But here I am, writing a sappy post about it for the second year in a row. (At least I'm consistent, right?) So here are a few things I would've told 2012 Darci before she hopped on that plane to Heathrow, and a few things that I think future study abroad-ers should know!

Not every day is going to be worthy of a blog post. It is, in fact, possible to have a boring, regular day when you're living abroad. You'll go to class, and take naps that last too long, and stay in because you have a cold, and watch a lot of your favorite TV shows. You might be abroad, but it's still your life, and you're still the same person. You're not going to be immediately transported to this fantasy existence where you can have grand adventures every day and where school work doesn't exist. However...

You're going to have some of the best days of your life. While study abroad isn't a fantasy world, it is a world in which you can choose your own adventure! Volunteer with London 2012 Ceremonies. Take stage combat classes at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Spend every weekend visiting movie locations. Seriously, the world is your oyster! You could do the typical study abroad thing and just bum around and drink... or you could follow your passion and improve your life long-term and make yourself ridiculously happy. Your choice.

Wear good shoes when you know you're going to do a lot of walking. Past Darci, please listen to me: I don't care that those Converse go with everything, or that they're comfortable now. You know that when they start wearing out, they start destroying your feet. Do you really want those death traps on your feet when you're backpacking through Europe for two and a half weeks? Why did you think that was a good decision? More than three years later, your Achilles heel still occasionally aches because of that choice. Be good to your feet. Please.

You may not need people, but they'll make your experience all the more amazing. I went to London confident that even if I didn't make any friends, I'd have a perfectly great time. How could anyone have a bad time in London? But some of my most treasured memories have almost nothing to do with London and everything to do with the people I was with. I'm not sure how I managed to stumble into the most amazing friendships and working relationships, but I'm not going to question it. It's like the stars were aligned or something. However it happened, I found people that made it enjoyable to sort stacks of ID badges until my hands were rubbed raw, people I huddled with for warmth during a night spent sleeping outside on concrete, people I was content to hang out with in a (slightly gross) dorm kitchen with a few bottles of cider.

You're going to miss it every day for the rest of your life. Alright, I can only speak for three years after the fact. And maybe it's just me. But for real, I'm still pining for my old life in London and would hop on a plane there in a heartbeat if given the chance. So don't sign up to study abroad unless you're willing to sign up for a lifetime of missing it. (It's so worth it, though.)

London's Natural History Museum

I love good architecture. I don't think I really realized it until I took an Architecture of London class for fun when I studied abroad, but just in the last few years I've really begun to enjoy appreciating buildings. That class was quite the experience; it was really hard, as architecture is basically this whole subset of art that I knew very little about, but it was equally as fascinating. Every other week we met up at a different spot in the city and our professor would walk us around to various landmarks and describe them architecturally. It was SUCH a cool way to learn more about London!

We also had to write two papers for that class. Again, incredibly hard but incredibly fascinating. One of mine was on Brutalist architecture, which I chose because of how much I loathe that style. (Seriously, I hate it so much that I almost love it for the hulking eyesores it left us.) For my other paper, we could choose from a list of buildings around London to write about. I chose the Natural History Museum, figuring I could make an afternoon of it when I went to see the building.

Guys. This building. THIS. BUILDING.

Is it possible to fall in love with a building? I know there's a woman that married the Eiffel Tower. Can I marry the Natural History Museum? Because holy cow. I went there to browse the museum and spent most of the time gazing open-mouthed at the walls and ceilings.

Not only is it a gorgeous building without knowing a single other thing about it -- those staircases. I swoon! -- but knowing all the little details makes you appreciate how it was built exactly for its purpose. It's covered in terracotta tiles; now that only serves to look pretty, but it was initially chosen because it could resist the acid smogs of Victorian London. Inside, the ceiling panels are covered in intricate paintings of plants and animals. But my favorite part is that there are also plants and animals carved into the walls. Everywhere you look, there they are. Wall panels. Columns. Random details. Interior. Exterior. Everywhere. It's the coolest thing. This building is honestly a work of art.

Oh man, I miss it. I miss a building. Never in my life did I think I'd say that, but here we are.

Anyway, the museum's website has a whole section on the history and architecture of the building, and you can even take a virtual tour of sorts to see and learn more about it! But if you happen to be in London, please swing by and see it in person. Admission is free, so you can go and ogle to your heart's content. I most certainly did! :)

The Traveler I Am Not

I read a lot of blogs, and a pretty good number of travel blogs. I love getting a peek into other people's adventures around the world, and I'm just as interested in how these people travel as I am in where they travel. It makes me think a lot about my own trips and my own travel personality. It's pretty fascinating to see what other people like and do, and compare it to myself. And I've realized that, while I am a lot of things, there are also a bunch of things I'm definitely not.

+ I'm not the traveler that's going to look impeccably stylish. Or stylish at all, really. I backpacked through Europe in a pair of Converse and shorts with tights underneath. Those Converse ended up destroying my feet so that was a terrible decision, but I'd sooner wear them again than walk around in anything with a heel. Even a chunky heel. Or a wedge. It's strictly flat, supportive shoes for this girl and her lame feet and weak ankles (party hard!). I'm also big on t-shirts and cardigans; basically, give me comfort any day.

+ I'm not the traveler that has any real desire for a beach vacation. I mean, I love relaxing and doing nothing as much as the next guy, but I don't travel to lay around or bake in the sun or drink (let alone all three at the same time). Give me a city to run around in!

+ I'm not the traveler that will get stressed out about a schedule. I'm Type A to an extent, but beyond getting to an airport or train station on time, why spend time being anxious about something that, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't really matter? As long as I get to do everything I want to do, I'm in no great rush to get to certain places according to a timetable. And I've made some great memories on days when "wandering" was the only thing on the agenda!

On a leisurely wander through Venice.

+ I'm not the traveler that will ever have trouble finding something to eat. I might not be able to eat a lot (I'm cursed with an incredibly small appetite), but I will eat just about anything. I don't have any food allergies. I don't have any foods that I'm aggressively opposed to. I don't need anything fancy. Plunk me down in a restaurant and I'm good to go. Granted, I've never been to Asia, where the food is significantly different from what I'm used to, but I'm down to try everything. I want to try everything!

+ I'm not the traveler that will make every trip sound like a complete fairytale. Sorry, I'm too realistic for that. Nor are my photography (or photo editing) skills good enough to make every scene look like a dewey, golden scene from an artsy movie. Travel definitely involves some moments that are pure magic, but it also involves things like sore feet and achy shoulders and jet lag and fumbling with maps. (That's not even mentioning the things that go catastrophically wrong.) Some travel bloggers can make their trips sound like nothing but pure bliss, but that's too much omission for my liking.

+ I'm not the traveler that'll let embarrassment stop me from taking a jumping picture. Nope. Not sorry.