I'm not sure why, but so many people consider being alone and loneliness to be one in the same. I will be the first to tell you that is the furthest thing from the truth, especially while travelling abroad.
About once a week, I try to go exploring on my own. I get on a bus and just GO. Sometimes I have a plan, sometimes I don't, but I always go with an adventurous spirit and try to go off the beaten path a bit.
Today, this adventure took me to the Newcastle Museum--a quiet little place home to histories of the city, interactive science and technology exhibits, and even some local pieces of art.
When I first walked in, the first thing I saw was a restored Newcastle train. It was the kind you can actually walk inside and sit down in.
So I did!
The rest of the history section of the museum included relics from Newcastle's days as a coal-mining town and pieces of more modern popular culture. The city has undergone many, many revitalization periods since it was founded, so the different parts of the museum reflect different eras of its history.
I then moved over to the science side of the museum, which reminded me of a small version of Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arkansas. There were optical illusions, science demonstrations, and even a giant globe rotating slowly above my head! Maybe it's silly of me, but I am a sucker for these sorts of things. In the midst of very adult-ish things like living alone in another country, I love to be a child.
(Look! My head is covering the exact spot I'm standing on Earth!)
After I left the museum, I meandered about the area for a while. I spotted a Cold Rock ice cream shop (like Cold Stone Creamery in the US), and I thought to myself, "Hey, Caroline, treat yo'self!" (Parks and Rec, anyone?)
Yum.
There wasn't much more to my day other than some more wandering around. I go off-schedule, off the map, so I never know what I'm going to come across.
I DID, however, shamelessly take selfies in front of a photo wall outside the museum. People DID stare, but I also did NOT care. That's some study abroad confidence for you, I guess!
I guess it really is the simple things (and the many chins) that make a day great.
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