I have always loved sunsets. I think that all of the colors blending together in the sky is really beautiful. Sometimes though I feel like I don’t get to appreciate a good sunset because I live on the east coast. They’re nice back home, but eventually the trees block out the nice view. So last night you can imagine my excitement when our flight home from London was taking place as the sun was setting. As we flew back to Dublin I could see the most amazing colors and was thrilled that I had a window seat. I wanted to take a picture of it. I felt like it would be a good wrap up to all the pictures I had taken in London. However, I worried about what the strangers next to me would think. Would they think I had never flown in a plane before? Would they think that I was just some lousy tourist? I realized that worrying about what they thought meant that in a way I’m still uncomfortable with sticking out as a tourist- even though I’ve accepted that I am one.

Today when we stopped by the canal I had the same worry- that I would stand out as a tourist if I took a picture. I didn’t have any of these worries when I was taking millions of pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye though. I think that when I’m in a place that’s full of tourists, like the London Eye, I feel more comfortable because everyone is doing it. In a small, intimate place like a plane however, I feel more awkward and am reluctant to stand out. However, I did take a picture of the sunset and the canal anyway so I suppose I am getting over my fears and caring less about what people think. Besides, the people next to me on the plane seemed British so if they were going to Dublin they were tourists too.