2007 Trip: Loneliness

Since I got on the plane without my traveling companion I had difficulty shaking off the loneliness I was feeling during the first part of my trip. I had been looking forward to traveling with someone to share things with. The first few nights in my room, I wondered everything from "Shouldn't I just forget about everything and go home?" to "What is karmically wrong with me that I get left alone at the fucking airport gate just before a much anticipated vacation?"

I was feeling down much of the time in D.C. After leaving the U.S. Botanic Garden, I walked to the Air and Space Museum, surely one of the greatest museums in the world, and had to leave after 15 minutes. The last time I was in D.C., I spent a precious few 4o minutes in Air and Space due to the severe time constraints. I had to leave, though. My traveling companion would have loved this museum. In fact, we would have spent at least two days there. Instead, I only managed to get a picture of the actual Spirit of St. Louis before leaving:

Even now, seeing this picture makes me wince.

That night back at the hotel I sat and wondered once again what the hell I was going to do. I had no plans for the next couple of days. I felt I should throw in the towel and just give up. As I indulged myself in channel surfing (a real novelty for me since I don't own a TV), I decided since I was already in Washington, D.C. I had to challenge myself to make the best of it. This was a good decision, but it didn't take away the empty feeling. I had to come up with another way to deal with this feeling. That night I couldn't think of anything, but as I was nodding off an idea popped into my head. I'll show you want I mean in the next post.