the nomad's life

Since leaving Dunedin in mid-July (our last working stop in New Zealand) we've rarely spent more than a couple nights in the same spot. We've been seeing the must-see sights, taking the tours, having cultural experiences, meeting fellow travelers.
We've also been running on overload, both in terms of taking it all in and in terms of always being on the go. It's a little tough to relax, even when you're not doing anything in particular, when you can never unpack and have no real place to base out of for more than a few hours.

China was the exception. My cousin graciously gave us the run of his apartment in Beijing for the duration of our stay, along with its satellite TV and library of books and DVDs. We took full advantage, spending far too much time just sitting in the apartment. We saw plenty of Beijing sights, did the obligatory Beijing shopping, but we also slept in and occasionally wasted time just hanging around a place we didn't have to immediately leave. It was a much-needed respite.

Now we're in London and back on the move. For most of the next six weeks, we're hoping to hop from one friend to another, staying on floors for a few days and moving on before (hopefully) wearing out our welcome. The floor-surfing era has begun here (and we're very grateful to Ryan, who has allowed us to take up pretty much all of the unoccupied space in his dorm room for the next few days). Next Monday, on to Germany to hopefully stay with four or five different people we've met during the past year's travels. Then Scotland, northern England, Ireland and back to London. It'll be good to see all these friends again, and it'll be nice not to have the daily financial drain of always paying for places to sleep. But I don't think we'll really have a chance to relax again until we return to the States in December (and even then we'll be traveling around crashing with people until we sort out how and where to settle).