Travel and Brain Chemistry

This is the worst jet lag I’ve ever had. It is ironic because the transition going to Europe was the easiest ever. It helped that we traveled first class (had free tickets from frequent flyer miles) and we had a relatively new plane that let you assume a flat position. I took an ambien and slept five hours on the way to London. Voila! The first few nights home I hardly slept and then I tried ambien again and felt hungover and it has alternated between these extremes since. One night I woke up completely wide awake after an hour and took an ambien. Last night I stupidly tried a muscle relaxer, forgetting that I took one in Florence and was zonked. I envy those people who can fall asleep easily on a plane. I would never make it in working on-the-road and salute the Willy Lomen who manage to do it.

Someday I will write about my experience with prednisone-induced mania. Of course, if steroids can do that you probably have a tendency that way. My body is beginning to feel like it did then, tired all the time. Yesterday I bonked on a relatively easy hike. My brain can do repetitious tasks but cannot really do something like read a book. This is really crimping my style at the moment. The best book I read on bipolar disorder was An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison (my copy long ago disappeared; borrowed and not returned). It helps give one a small sense of mental illness; it is not fun most of the time although manic euphoria can be wonderful even while making you incompetent. But it is very tiring and I hope I sleep tonight naturally. Tita hardly had a migraine headache while we were gone and now she is having them regularly again. Brain chemistry is weird. Maybe next time we will get a one-way ticket to Europe.

Here are lessons from this trip so I can look them up before next time. Traveling by auto on the back roads is wonderful. You really see things you would not otherwise like picturesque little villages where things have not changed in forever. I have never been a fan of the A-routes (super-freeways) but decided this time I am going to take them on longer jaunts in the future. I can drive the back roads when we get close to wherever we are going. I also want to experiment with the trains but no overnighters; thank you R and J for that advice. A room with a lot of natural light and at least one comfortable chair is a must and a view is a terrific luxury. If we stay in a nice hotel in the country again that has a restaurant we will get “full-board,” meaning that we will include dinner in the restaurant hotel. In Venice at La Calcina and in Radda at Relais Fattoria Vignale the restaurants had wonderful food and great views to boot. We had the best asparagus and risotto of the trip in Radda, which is something given the many nice restaurants we went to in Florence with Rick and Jackie.

I can see sharing a villa or an apartment again but it is hard to imagine taking the chance with many other people. Luckily, we both did our own thing during the day except for the wonderful vineyard wine-tasting trip Rick booked. Truly a memorable experience. I shipped half a case back to Rick’s house because our backward state does not allow you to directly ship wine home. The Chianti Classico was wonderful and we also have some even better Super Tuscan coming. I try to get Chianti here complete with the pick ribbon and the black rooster but so far not so good, while paying much more. It is hard to go back to drinking American coffee again after Cappucino, but we live in the new world. I did not miss following the news. We left with a huge oil spill and returned to a much bigger one. What else happened? I guess a watered-down financial bill passed...big surprise. But you may have ascertained my change in attitude after all these months of blogging. Been there, done that. Time to move on to something more interesting.

As much as we love auto travel in Europe, I cannot see traveling by car with anyone but Tita. I love the planning and trying to get around without too many mishaps and do a lot of research. Sorry, I don’t need more opinions on what to do. Tita and I always have a marvelous time on the road. We have just the right amount of planning and flow. Next European vacation we will do more of this. But I have to recover from this trip first. Maybe we will finally drive around New England next year and visit my sister and the haunts of our ancestors, particularly Harpersfield, New York. The French and Indian wars are fascinating history. But enough blathering for now. Even racing minds wear down.