Jit's Journal: On break and getting lost in Europe

After a long month, it is finally time for a break. A home-cooked meal, clean clothes and a good sleep are just what the doctor ordered. And while I won’t see my actual home for another month or so, the comfort of a friends home here in Europe is enough to see me through.
    I can’t tell you what it means to be able to sleep in the same bed for more than two nights, and the ability to wash a month’s worth of dirty laundry is amazing. It gets interesting when you get to the bottom of your duffel bag and start having to make the best out of what clothes you have left. When a teammate tells you he is flipping his underwear inside out, that’s when you know it’s time to get off the ro.
AFTER A LONG month, it is finally time for a break. A home-cooked meal, clean clothes and a good sleep are just what the doctor ordered. And while I won’t see my actual home for another month or so, the comfort of a friends home here in Europe is enough to see me through.
    I can’t tell you what it means to be able to sleep in the same bed for more than two nights, and the ability to wash a month’s worth of dirty laundry is amazing. It gets interesting when you get to the bottom of your duffel bag and start having to make the best out of what clothes you have left. When a teammate tells you he is flipping his underwear inside out, that’s when you know it’s time to get off the road. The worst thing you can do is push it for too long. Getting burnt out when there are two long months left to the season is definitely not the way to go.
    So what’s a guy to do on his week off in Europe? One of my favorite tactics is to go to a local destination — whether that is a city, town, or whatever — and park your car (preferably not where it’s going to get ticketed) and get lost. Literally. The whole idea is to enjoy the culture while culturing yourself so you have to remove yourself from your comfort zone and put it out there.
Half the fun sometimes is finding your way back to the car. Don’t sit inside watching DVDs and sleeping all day. If you have the time to educate and culture yourself, I’d highly recommend it. Get out there and check stuff out. People are a lot more gracious toward you when you put in the effort to understand who they are and where they come from.
    Food is another bold option. Most people stick with what they know but sometimes you have to branch out. Now I’m not saying that eating a schnitzel and French fries is bad thing, but testing the waters for something else just might help you out in the long run. Just like travel, food can burn you out, too; Eating the same stuff over and over because you don’t know anything else can get old. You have to change it up. I’m a fan of asking for what the local dish is, and if that doesn’t fly, or you don’t speak the language, close your eyes and point to somewhere on the menu.
    So where does that leave me? Well, I did have the option to fly back to the States for about a week, and then return to Europe to continue on with the Europa Cup tour, but I decided that wasn’t in my best interest. Traveling for the better part of two days from the West Coast of the U.S. to Europe, and then hopping in the car right away and driving to Slovakia for a Europa Cup race didn’t strike me as the way to go. I also didn’t feel like adjusting to one time zone only to leave it and have to readjust to another. So here I am, staying in Europe, working on my German, reading a book, taking in the sights.
’Til next time
— Jit