don't you need a break from all this traveling?

someone asked me once (indirectly, via nancypants), you're seeing so many awesome things but doesn't it all run together?  i mean, how do you look back and remember the details? don't you need some sort of break from all this traveling? 

i have gotten in the habit of returning from a trip and immediately beginning the planning for my next adventure; often the planning for my next trip even overlaps with the occurrence of my current trip.  reflection is important and if i don't give myself adequate time to reflect on things i've seen and learned, does that take away from the significance of the adventure?

i wrote the question down along with a note reminding myself to think it over.  i forgot entirely until i was reflecting on my time in alaska.  when i was in alaska seeing the sights and then again, back in virginia, remembering and describing the sights, i kept referring to other places i had been and other things i had seen.  the fall colors reminded me of virginia; the mountains beyond mountains across the cook inlet reminded me of croatian island views; the people were welcoming and friendly like the maltese.  these descriptions might not help others to visualize the beauty that i've seen or the people i've encountered but they help me to remember.  

so here i am in thailand, a place with which i've always been wistfully obsessed.  since arriving a few days ago, i've been so overwhelmed with the unfamiliarity of everything that it's been a struggle to focus on what i'm seeing and learning not to mention trying to plan what i'm going to do while i'm here.  when i'm not staring at everything with my mouth hanging open in awe, i'm digging up familiar memories.  our drive up the doi suthep mountain to the west of chaing mai was like driving in virginia, only more exotic;  the wat at the summit looks down on the city just like monuments in other familiar cities; and the people, again, are as friendly as the maltese.  as one would hope, these few connections are not all i have gained from the past few days however, they do help to make things a bit easier to sort out (at least for myself) as i'm easing into the culture here; a connection to something well-known makes the foreignness less so.  

so maybe everything is running together in my head but only in the very best ways.  i definitely don't think i need to take a break; if anything, i believe the mixing of memories is helping me to remember the details.

also, i take a lot of pictures.

x!