Samwise the Anxious: A Traveler's Tale

My husband and I got into a fight this week. We do not fight often anymore; we have been together for eleven years and have a pretty good idea of how to properly communicate with each other. But when we do fight, it's usually outside forces that mask themselves as issues with each other in order to have an outlet. It started with the dishes. It became about how we are both trying to do so many things outside of our relationship that we are forgetting each other. It became about how life hasn't gone the way we planned the last few months, and how overwhelming it has been. That's life . But we unknowingly haven't really had each other through it all, thus creating a feeling of loneliness. Hours of yelling and saying things we didn't mean and cold shoulders led to an exhausted talk of how we need to be more present for each other. So I figured if I was mad about not having him to talk to lately and he was finally ready to listen, I should probably tell hi...

The last day of a trip is always bittersweet. I had a terrible migraine that day. The kind that makes your eye twitch, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from soaking up as much adventure as I could on our last day there. We began with a tour around the Lakes of Killarney via the Waterbus. The voyage started at the Ross Castle and lasted for about an hour nonstop. We received lovely commentary from our guide about the history and folklore surrounding the area. The Mountain range surrounding the lakes is called Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, which contains the highest peak in Ireland called Carrauntoohil, sitting at about 3,406 feet high. There are several small forested islands on Lough Leane, the largest of the three lakes, including Innisfallen Island. Innisfallen is home to the ruins of a monastery founded in the 6th-7th century by St. Finian the Leper. The Annals of Innisfallen were written here by 39 monks, detailing the history of medieval Ireland. The monks inhabited this isla...

With the promise of better weather, we decided to squeeze two adventures into one day, knowing we only had a few days left before heading back home to the states. First, our plan was to go back to the Ross Castle and give the area another try. This time with some convincing, David got me on a little boat to the Innisfallen Island. When we first got to the Ross Castle, there was an orchestra from Germany called Stadtkapelle Bobingen setting up in front of it to take photos. We settled down on a bench by the lake. There were far fewer people here this time, making it much more relaxing to watch the ducks and swans on the water and all of the people while soaking up the crisp cool air. I was hoping the orchestra would put on a little show when they were done taking pictures, and they came through for me! It was so charming to see them in their traditional garb playing music in front of a historic castle. It’s not something you see every day! That is one of my favorite things a...

My husband wanted to venture out into town for breakfast instead of eating at the hotel. To most, that would not be a big deal. But I have been known to be described as a bear, or even a dragon in the morning, especially before breakfast. I liked staying at the hotel for breakfast because it was free, quick, had great coffee and a view, and a decent selection of hot and cold meals. My husband wasn’t as easily impressed though. So I agreed to go out for breakfast as long as he looked up a restaurant first, that way we knew where we were going and didn’t spend all morning running around and I would be less likely to get cranky, since trying to find a parking spot already had been known to take a while.  He picked a restaurant and we made our way into town.  As I predicted, finding parking was hell. We ended up in this little one way, dead ended alley that proved to be "fun" getting out of later. We wandered around the crowded allies looking for this place. Finally we ...