What I learned in boating school is...

Hey, what’s up, hello. This isn’t going to be like any other Unconsolidated Life post because this isn’t Taryn. This is a guest blog post by Rhea Jett and yes I have permission… I’m not just secretly doing this, although that’d be a great prank. So just a warning this isn’t going to be wise or quotable or filled with knowledge in fact its going to be filled with misspelled words and bad grammar. That being said I titled this, “What I learned in Boating School is…” because when Taryn first asked me to do this I had a million ideas of what to write about and thought it would be easy. Just like SpongeBob did when he had to write his paper for boating school in order to get his boating license. But if you recall the episode I’m talking about SpongeBob sits down with his pencil and paper and starts by writing, “What I learned in boating school is…” and then stares at it for the whole night. That is kind of how I felt for 30 minutes staring at a blank word document. So I’m just going to write a few things I have learned so far on this trip. My own boating school list if you will. 

• Prague is not a Country. – I learned this when I couldn’t find it on the map of countries of Europe. (Sorry Johnathan Walker I must have slept through that class)
• Czechoslovakia is no longer together. They had a peaceful separation and now are two separate countries. But apparently there is a lot more to it I just don’t like history so I don’t really care.
• I have learned how it feels to be a tractor trailer after backpacking Europe. Wide turns. WIDE turns.
• Pisa is not in France. In fact, it’s in Italy and it’s sketchy and it not necessary to visit.
• All lanes are the bike lane. No exceptions. Be aware.
• If a bus voice starts talking but you can’t understand it pay attention to what other people do and if they get off, you get off. If not, you will get locked on a bus.
• Rules are merely suggestions.
• WC does not mean women’s bathroom. It means wash closet and men could be in there and you could accidently walk in on them.
• The Red Light District is not a trendy downtown bar area. (THX Cate Jarrett)
• Don’t bring a stroller to Venice.
• If you get somewhere in Spain at 1am than you are to early.
• Don’t call it soccer. Especially when the Euro Cup is happening.
• Venice floods when its high tide and raining. Just take your shoes off and embrace that you are soaked. You’ll look like a local.
• If you meet someone named Kevin they are probably the best human and you should be their friend.
• We want to throw a rock at Munich

 Those are a few funny lessons I’ve learned first hand. On the real though, if you read Taryn’s last post she talked about how life is a dream right now. She’s right. This doesn’t feel real. The fact that I’ve become accustom to being on a train every other day and living out of a backpack doesn’t feel real. The fact that its normal for me to be somewhere where people can’t communicate using a common language feels like a dream. The fact that I’m getting to travel through Europe with some of my best friends, man what a time to be alive. That isn’t real life. It is a dream! But what people don’t always tell you is the dreams aren’t always sunny and colorful. Backpacking isn’t always glorious and neither is our lives. It doesn’t always look like the perfect shot we post on Instagram. Sometimes it rains all day. Sometimes you get lost and everything looks the same and you can’t find your way home for 3 more hours. Sometimes you have a bad day. Sometimes you fail out of college. Sometimes you look up flights home. Sometimes you run out of money. Sometimes you fake it till you make it. Sometimes you don’t see a curb and you face plant in the road and sometimes you fall in a fountain. But these are the times that make the “destination” worth it. The times you’ll never forget with the people who make it worth it. We are so concerned with what’s next and getting to a certain destination or end goal we forget to enjoy the now. I’ve learned the journey is the destination. We aren’t invincible forever but we are invincible in the moments we chose to be present. So go be present where you are! Embrace the journey, Enjoy the now!  Europe rocks!!XoxoRJ