Manchester/Bath UK Trip Journal Day6
Bath, UK
I have written over 13,000 words on this trip, Gentle Reader, and I still have two days and a travel day left to go. I have appreciated you coming along on these journeys with me. It makes me feel less alone. Because is there anything more lonely than traveling abroad by yourself? Not only a stranger, but a stranger in a foreign country, and any time I open my mouth, my foreignness comes through? This morning at breakfast, whilst chatting with the lovely travelers also staying here, I found myself wondering what my voice sounded like to them. I love the English and Scottish accents, find them charming and beautiful. But hearing these accents day in and day out has made me hyper aware of my own voice. Is it too high? Too flat? What does my voice sound like to people in England? I said “y’all” as I left, as in, “y’all have a great trip home,” and then found myself wincing at such a display of American South-ism.
But then, why should I wince? Perhaps they find my accent as charming as I find theirs? Perhaps this is all in my head.
The consequences of spending too long alone, analyzing one’s thoughts, perhaps.
I am currently sitting in my room in the B&B in Bath, getting ready to start my day of exploring. I had a gorgeous breakfast, a proper full English, with lovely homemade breads and marmalades and coffee. Now, I will walk, or rather, totter, down the hill toward Bath Town. And, once there, I will try to walk in the steps of Miss Austen.
The Postmodern Bluestocking 