Like a (Happy) Rolling Stone

A castle on a hill!


Cape Cod? Nope. Inisheer.

First of all, I’d like the clear up that most of my last blog was written in jest. I wrote that instead of actually getting angry or depressed or bitter. Got it? Good. That doesn’t mean I won’t make fun of editors, those sassy-ass, smooth-livin, self-righteous sons-of-bitches.

Yesterday wasn’t exactly difficult, but it did test my ability to walk long distances on very little food. I managed to survive and had such a fantastic time I didn’t really notice my growling belly that much. I was on the smallest of the Aran Islands. It can be walked up and down in a few hours. That’s what I did after walking around one of the other islands for a while. I got there and took off. I saw a nice castle that Cromwell destroyed like he did so many beautiful things in Ireland. Then I went walking to this lighthouse. It looked like New England all of a sudden…except that I couldn’t stop staring at the beauty of the Cliffs of Moher across the water. I didn’t know I’d have such an incredible view of this famous landmark. The best part was that while all the tiny ant-like tourists were crawling all over the cliffs, I was completely, utterly alone with a view of the entire length of the cliffs. It was one of those fantastic moments where you feel like you’re in on a secret that no one else knows. I walked along the rocky water’s edge and enjoyed the sunny weather—yes, strong winds decided to blow the nasty rain and clouds away for the day. Everything came together. I also think it’s the most alone I’ve probably ever been other than driving down certain stretches of road. There were only about 300 people on the island and they were all on the other side.


And of course we all do weird stuff when we know nobody else is watching. I decided to sing a view songs to myself and even did a little happy dance. No shame. On the way back I was exhausted. There’s this sweet wrecked ship on the rocks. I didn’t go down and get a closeup, but I did gaze at the ghostly scene from afar.


At the hostel I stayed at the other night, I hung out with some cool guys from Canada. We got to talking and I found out that they were using the Ireland Let’s Go book. Some girls from New Jersey piped in and said that they were using it, too. Needless to say, they revered me as a god when I told them I was writing for that very book. Good times. We had a nice breakfast together figuring out the toaster and talking about rich people at Harvard.

I also decided to listen to my ipod while walking. I haven’t used it at all really. Well, I decided to listen to some Bob Dylan and then got a little touched when Like a Rolling Stone played because the lyrics kind of hit a few notes for me out here alone after graduating:
How does it feel? How does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home.
Like a complete unknown.
Like a rolling stone.

Day: 20
Guinness: 29