Seeking An Extraordinary Life - A Travel Journal

I get down to Union Square again in the morning in what's becoming a really nice morning routine, to meditate in the fresh air and sunshine with the noises of the city going on around me. It's soothing and focussing, and I feel good and full of energy by the time I return to start my shift.

After shift I take a walk to Cala Foods to get some supplies, and spend the evening in front of the TV with a 40oz of "Olde English" malt liquor (not actually as bad as it sounds, even if they can't legally call it beer) and a few plates of pasta and tomato sauce (made from scratch with real tomatoes, simple but very satisfying to cook).

The weather here is definitely changing now - even when the sun's shining it doesn't get really warm, and there's been a bit of fine drizzle most days. It's that cool crisp autumn feeling coming in, and it's actually really refreshing and gives the city a comfortable feeling. I wonder how the transition toward winter's going to affect me...in the past I've tended to get pretty depressed and demotivated once the days get shorter. Of course, if things get bad I can just head south early and find the sun again...ah, the hard life of a nomad!

Labels: Pasta, San Francisco, Union Square

Life continues as before. The work still isn't dragging, three hours seems to be just a nice period to work each day, and I'm still having fun just exploring the city and wandering up and down the hills, as well as getting rapidly into great shape.

I'm discovering more and more of the hotspots of San Francisco, particularly the places to save money - there are loads of great thrift stores here from which I've obtained some great clothes and a pair of cheap very good-quality trainers, the choice of grocery store can make a significant difference to one's food costs, and there are always odd little stores to discover where necessities can be obtained cheaply.

Otherwise...I'm reading a lot (just finished Silence of the Lambs and I'm working on Wicked), mostly keeping up with email, wandering the streets and getting back to cooking a little bit. I've established a bit of a routine, on mornings when I'm up in time and the weather is nice enough, to walk down to Union Square and meditate on a comfortable step there for half an hour or so before starting my shift.

The mornings have mostly been bright and clear, coldish (but I have my beautiful Nepalese sweater/jacket to keep me warm) and invigorating, and it's really nice to get out of the house and refresh and calm my head before getting into the slog of cleaning.

I need to get into a routine of doing my acrobatics exercises now, and improve my flexibility and specific technique - I've been a bit slack about getting down to it, despite my initial excitement and motivation.

All in all I feel good. I feel healthy, mostly on top of things and I feel like I'm making the most of my time here, discovering what the city has to offer. If I can keep my costs down I may stay here for more than a month - just living here seems like as much a learning and growing experience as being on the road.

Labels: acrobatics, adelaide hostel, California, Grocery store, meditation, Metro Areas, San Francisco, Union Square