Well I think it is time to finish my journey. It took me a few months and a little bit of self realization that my trip in Chile has finally come to an end. I have now had enough time to come to the conclusion that I am no longer on the trip of a lifetime, but back home and in the same routine that I was in before I left. It is interesting what happens in just a few months, both at home and abroad.
For instance, I can honestly say that at the beginning of my trip I would have never called it 'the trip of a lifetime'. I have now grown up enough to envisage that what I was exposed to while abroad was a 'once' in a lifetime experience. The reason for the '' on 'once' is because what I went through in Chile will never happen again, but if I have anything to say about it I will never stop traveling and experiencing the world. My last few weeks in Chile were, in a word, triumphant. I experienced the worst bus ride of my life so far (lets just say I took the wrong bus, fell down a hill, ran into a pack of rabid dogs, a snake, cut myself, walked about a mile and all without a cell phone or a way to get out of the situation except for continuing on the path), I had to say goodbye to some truly exceptional family members and friends, I had to fly for two days straight, and then readjust to life back in the US.
Since being home, the changes in mentality, in morals, in life itself have been all around exceptional. Before returning I had planned on staying put for a while, finding a place to live and reconnecting with all my past friends. I now know that I was being naive. I have lost friends, become closer with others, realized that I am not the type of person that can stay put for too long, which makes my graduation coming up in a few months more stressful. I am looking for a career, hopefully an international career, looking to travel and looking to move forward in every aspect of my life.
And just because I haven't shared much of it on the blog yet, here is just a little piece from my journal that I kept while abroad,
'I’m sure at the beginning it was all sadness for leaving home, and now it has changed to sadness for leaving Chile. I knew it would happen, but at the same time I’m still ready to go home and see all my friends and family. I’m ready to start making money again, and I’m ready to finish school and find an apartment and just start saving money for my next big adventure! I’ve done it. I know there were times, a lot of them, where I struggled and just wanted to leave, but I’m so grateful for all of those now! They have made me into a better and more experienced person. This ending isn’t quite like what you read about in books, or see in the movies; there is no big conclusion that brings everything together and some hidden meaning behind it all… it’s just the end of another part in my life. With this experience I now have, I know I can travel anywhere and do anything.'
This little passage is really what I wanted to take out of my time in Chile, because its all true. There is no fairy tale ending, there is just one part of my life closing and another one opening. All I can hope for now is to keep past memories alive and create new, hopefully better, stories.
I do want to thank every single reader again for all the support and continued reading of this blog; it means a lot. I cannot wait until my next great adventure and I will be sure to keep a blog informing everyone who cares to know about every step. Until then, I will leave this blog off with one of my favorite travel quotes,
“You will find that it is all very familiar… the strange and faraway places where you’ve never been. The wild unknown leads you to a place just around the corner. Take a picture when you get there… the road is you” The Road, J. Bebe – R. Hammond
