Exploring London: Day 5

One last thing to do before I had to leave – the London Eye. The Eye is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe and towers over the city from its spot on the Thames. Fortunately, for a few pounds more you could skip the main line and go right up (this should be allowed everywhere on earth).

You get in a capsule with 8-10 other people and then begin the slow climb up. The Eye moves incredible slowly – the ride is just one full rotation that takes half an hour. It barely feels like you’re moving until you start seeing points of reference that look tiny.

This was a lot of fun..the views were amazing and I could see all of the things I had visited over the past week.This gave me a chance to reflect on the trip.

First, London feelt much more modern than NY. Everyone’s credit cards have chips in them so they can be read much more easily. Subways have electronic displays telling you when to expect the next train. Everything was clean and organized. The US in general really needs to get going on infrastructure investment or its going to bite us later on (along with the debt, of course).

It’s a very welcoming country/city. Part of it is the modernity, and I’m sure (mostly) speaking the same language helps. Even so, people gave off a great vibe, and when people sensed I was a tourist, it typically caused them to be more helpful and patient, as opposed to getting all stabby. I think part of that is the dynamic – in London, and Europe in general, you are always in close proximity to other cultures so there is probably a shared sense of adapting. My experience in NY is that it’s certainly a melting pot, but everyone is expected to adapt to being a New Yorker.

This trip didn’t make me hate on NY at all though, as there are plenty of great things about home. London clearly is still impacted by class issues in a way that we don’t experience here. Also, there’s only so much fog a person can take. February may not have been the best time to visit, but I think we saw the sun twice.

The most important thing for me was that this rekindled my love of travel. Despite being on an airplane almost every week for the last two years, I hadn’t been overseas in any real way since 2005. I love exploring new places and this reminded me how important that is. I am going to use all my miles to try and get somewhere in the fall..potentially either Europe again, or maybe Thailand.

Life is too short to spend it constantly worrying about your Blackberry. Over the course of a year, if you add up all the crap you buy (drinks, take out, gadgets) it’s far more than a plane ticket and a hostel in almost any city in the world. I want to start making sure that travel becomes a big part of what I do every year. I also want to keep checking things off on my 101 list all year to make sure these adventures continue.

Overall, this was an amazing and much needed week away. Thanks again to Julie, Sara and Ronnie for having me. Here is a panorama I shot from the top of the Eye…can’t wait to put it up on my wall. Cheers!