The Solo Vacation Experiment, Day 1

After hearing about the madness of traveling solo from a number of individuals and being coaxed to travel alone by a select few I decided I will never know until I try myself.
So here it goes. My first try at  a  solo vacation. Subsequent blog entries will document findings about traveling solo. Maybe you guys would find something useful too.


Observations:

1. After getting down at ronald reagan national airport I proceeded to go towards the metro trains that leave from the airport. Over confident that I was in my map reading skills, I proceeded to pluck a train route map from the counter and spread it out to figure out how to get to the hostel. After 15 mins of staring at it and still not able to find my hostel on it I finally asked the guy at the desk to show the proper way. In the end it turned out it was just a single train and I would be there in 30 mins.
2. In my eagerness to get to the hostel I did find the right platform but boarded the wrong train. Went to some other part of town. It took the train reversing its direction for me realize that my stop would never come.
3. Had my snow shoes on since I thought it could snow in Washington. But Washington surprised with with a sunny warm and clear day. Unfortunately, walking all day in those heavy shoes took its toll.
4. Standing below the Washington monument was easily the best moment of the day. You could see the US capitol, White house and Lincoln memorial on each side. Not to mention a number of museums.
5. While asking people around for clicking a picture of myself, I came across a Indian family. Father was the one I asked for the favor. But uncle just gave me a withering stare and said "I am setting up my own camera".
6. After a tiring day, as I came back to the hostel, I encountered a Chinese dude in the elevator up to the 8th floor. Since we were both going to the same floor in the excruciating slow lift I decided to strike up a conversation. me:"Are you a student?". Him:"yes". me:"which university?" Him: "cornell". me:"cool" him:"what about you?"me: "UIC chicago". He obviously assumed university of chicago (The business school). him:"university of chicago. really?? how old are you?". I clarified that i was in UIC and then he concluded "Ohh. Then its okay". We both proceeded to our separate beds in our dorm. Suffice to say I am not talking to 1 person in my room.
7. For dinner, decided to find the nearest pot belly, but ended up at this burger joint. Great burgers. Horrible fries.

Inference:

1. When in a new city, always ask the professionals for directions from the airport.
2. Going to the right platform does not guarantee the right train. When the LED board blinks yellow all the time it means its yellow line train and not blue.
3. Always carry light shoes when a lot of walking is involved.
4. No matter how tired you are or how much your legs hurt from heavy shoes, the sight of a beautiful monument still takes your breath away.
5. Dont ask people to click your pictures when they are setting up their own cameras
6. While conversing with people in a hostel just say you are a student, no need to ask or tell about universities.

Day 1, statistics:
pics - 90
reciepts - 8
(pics taken by other people) thankyou's  - 7
(pics taken of others) - welcome's - 8
tickets - 2
places of interest - 8
soveniers - 2
expense - 63
people befreinded - 0