Notes from a Neurodivergent Mind

 Hello from chez moi, where I have intentions to do sod all, after arriving home on Saturday. Since starting these entries, I knew that I wanted to do some sort of reflection of how things have been from my perspective. Like every trip, some things go to plans, whilst other things do not, and I think coming into the trip, my mental health was in such a good place (in comparison to previous years), that I had finished therapy (which I had been in for for the past seven years). I had- perhaps overconfidently, thought that the issues that used to affect my anxiety and mood levels could all be dealt with a toolbox of techniques. So, when I began to experience that panic (probably on Day 2 of the trip), and couldn't get my usual strategies to work, the panic exaggerated itself even more. I did experience similar in Latvia on my 2nd night of the solo trip I did at the beginning of the year. The symptoms I experienced then were comparatively more heightened, but that was the first time I ...

And so, it was the last day. Emotions were mixed- I didn't really want the trip to end, but I was similarly ready for a bit of normality. After vacating my apartment, I headed down to the lovely fishing village of Cavtat: reminiscent of  the Grecian village from the Mamma Mia films, but without the hordes of tourists.                                                                 Cavtat from the sea With my mind intent on spending a good chunk of the day swimming, I headed for a beachy area. I couldn't find one, but did find an enclosed area with lots of loungers with umbrellas around it. Seemed like a good option. I pitched up after paying 17 euros (!) for both (although to be fair this does grant you all day access), and headed for the (cooler than expected) water. "This is the life", I thought, as I was swimm...

Good evening from Zvekovica, outside of Dubrovnik, where I am about to devour a good (well, quite average in hindsight), cob-oven pizza. I had a chill one this morning, trying to catch up on my early rise from the day before. Nothing much occurred other than writing the blog for Day 15 (ish). .                     Old Town thoroughfare. After a Belvita for brekkie, I caught the bus into Dubrovnik for some museuming- first stopping off at the Maritime Museum. It was a bit of a change of scenery as far as museum visits on this trip have gone. The museum was good, and was set in a beautiful setting, right by the Old Town port. After leaving the museum after a few hours, I felt a bit drained, and in hindsight, I probably should have gone back to my apartment. I definitely need to have rest days during my next holiday! Nevertheless, I still wanted to see more sights, so I went to get some ice cream (that cost €10 with a lemon...

Morning folks from outside of Dubrovnik, which is my last stop on this trip.  I got up early to catch the train from Sarajevo to Mostar. My grandparents were singing Mostar's praises when they visited 30 plus years ago, so I felt that it would make for a good stop off prior to getting the bus to Dubrovnik. I only had about 2 hours to spend in Mostar, so headed to the rebuilt bridge that was destroyed during the Bosnian war. I was told that people would pay men on the bridge to jump off (in a diving sense, of course!), but I didn't see any of that this time around (health and safety gone mad! 😂). Getting through the bazaar was a bit of a squeeze due to large tour groups simultaneously trying to get to the main sites.  This did bother me, to be honest, but then I realised that I too am a tourist so I'm probably adding to the problem for locals.  After seeing much of the same as what I'd seen in Sarajevo in terms of the bazaars, I managed to do something that ...

Hello from Sarajevo Station where I'm sat on a train bleary-eyed, but ready for a quick stop in Mostar before I head to Dubrovnik, the last leg of the trip (!) After spending a relaxing morning at my apartment writing a previous blog post, I headed down the steep hill to the Bazaar, not looking forward to an ascent later on!  The Bazaar centre was smaller than expected, but it was certainly not lacking in terms of my other expectation- pigeons! A vast abundance of them, in fact! I've never seen so many birds in one place. I wandered around the charming Bazaar with its various souvenir and clothing shops, as well as restaurants and cafés. It had a completely different feeling culturally compared to the other cities on this trip, but it made for a refreshing change seeing a formerly persecuted race in Bosnia and Herzegovina walk freely without judgement or punishment. Following on from my ambles around the Bazaar, I headed to the Genocide Museum 1992-1995 to educate myself a bit ...

 Good morning (the morning after) from sunny Sarajevo, where, after a much improved night's sleep (than the previous one), I am sitting writing this post from my apartment balcony. So here we go! Let's chug on about the train! After misreading the departures board for the arrivals board, I very nearly had a 3rd night in Serbia, had I not seen some youngish folks who gave off "Interrailer" vibes head to the platform with their huge rucksacks. Safe to say, it was indicative of me needing to move.... So I got on, saw an old man in my cabin- immediately thought- "he's a snorer", and a young Indian couple, who had bagsied top bunks. Wanting to not be so close to my pre-determined snorer, I went for the middle bunk, donned my eye mask and ear plugs, and was hitting the sack at 8pm, prepped for an awakening by border control at 3 in the morning. I was starting to get off to sleep quite quickly before the snorer did, until- the horror! I awake from my doze to fi...

 (Psst I am a day behind but had no internet access last night and am too tired to do two on the tutor) Good morning from country 23- Montenegro, where I have seemingly found a rather pleasant resting place in what has been dubbed 'the most boring capital in Europe". But less about that and more about yesterday. I must admit, having woken up with my heart beating 10 to the dozen, I wasn't confident about securing a sleeper train ticket for last night. A night bus was the backup option, but really, a bed is a better bed than a bus seat! I hastily made my way to the ticket booth at the not so central "Central" Station, and ummed and aahed over the offer of a bed in a 6-berth, before accepting it. As prissy as it sounds, sharing a room with five unknown people is my idea of slumming it in an accommodation sense, but!, you'll have to find out more about the experience in the next post.  Aiming to rectify the wrongs of Saturday, I left the station to do some sight...

 Hi all from a baking Belgrade where the temperatures are well into their 30s. And talking about 30s, here's a bit about my experience in country 22 of my "30 countries before 30" quest.  As mentioned in my last post, I needed a "white card" to officially stay in Serbia. My host kindly offered to come over to assist me in filling in the form, but, inconveniently for the both of us, her car broke down, so she had to wait for the breakdown service. Given that I'd planned to have the morning off, this didn't affect my plans too much. We both came to the conclusion to do the process virtually, therefore, in theory, allowing me to be a tourist for the afternoon.  One of the main things you have to prepare for when travelling to the Balkans, is to bring local currency with you. After lunch, I wandered over to the Western Union exchange office to get some "dinar". But! They didn't have enough dinar to compensate me. I still took about half, though...

 Hi all, You join me whilst I'm partially conversing with Vodafone (data not working), and scribbling away about today's goings-on. Today's been pretty good, as I tootled around Timisoara- European City of Culture 2023, no less. Upon arriving at the city centre this morning, I was admittedly a tad underwhelmed when I arrived at one of the city's numerous squares. The greenery was well-maintained, but, the buildings did not meet the same levels of prettiness I had seen online. But! Too many times on my wanders I have judged a book my its cover, and after stumbling on some old ladies being blessed in a Church (and awkwardly exiting in a prompt manner, in my case), I was advised to pootle around the streets to get the most of the city for a few hours. And, like Matryoshka dolls, each street I uncovered outdid the previous street in terms of cuteness. My favourite was Piata Unirii (Union Square), which had a variety of architecture that wouldn't have gone amiss in a Dis...