Hi everyone.
I’m writing this one from the airplane. After almost 3 months of traveling, I am finally heading back to the United States.
I went to 5 countries this summer – all by myself!
Even though it’s ending now, this is still hard for me to believe. I had always wanted to travel, explore different cultures, and chase my passions in college, but I never dreamed of having an opportunity as amazing as this. I actually circumnavigated the globe! I have met so many wonderful people, both through my research and separate from it. I have shared so many meaningful conversations with them and learned so much – about trauma and mental health and also about life.
This summer, I saw 3 different types of seas – one from the harbor, one in the pouring rain, and one under the hot sun. I walked on a mountain named after giants. I went to museums, explored government buildings, and ate at hole in the wall restaurants. I celebrated my birthday in Eastern Europe and got sent to the emergency room in East Asia. I have gotten to do so much, more than I can possibly write down, in all different part of the world!
And I am so, so grateful for it all.
I wish that I had clearer conclusions from my trip. I wish that I could concretely organize everything that I’ve seen and felt and experienced into this blog post, but right now, I honestly feel like a jumble of emotions.
For some reason, I feel as I did when I first headed to Northwestern. Just like I did back then, I feel excited for the future – to reunite with my family and friends and to dive deep into the research I did this summer. And I feel sad; it feels like I am saying goodbye to something, like some kind of chapter in my life is ending. I also feel nervous about adjusting to school again, to my ‘normal’ life. But at the same time, if I’ve learned anything this summer – I think it is that there is no ‘normal’ life. I did just as much unlearning as learning these past few months. I have witnessed so many different types of successful and different versions of happy and different ways of living meaningfully across my travels.
From now on, I want to try and make sure that I’m asking myself if I am making decisions because they are what I want to do or because they are what I believe that I should do. It’s paradoxical, but I feel as if I know myself more and less all at the same time.
Anyways, I apologize that this post is mostly just me rambling 😅 I think that over the next few weeks (as I write my paper and review my experiences), I will get a clearer picture of this trip in my head.
In conclusion, I want to say thank you to everyone reading. Thank you so much for supporting me and for being a part of this unbelievable journey. This will definitely be a summer I will always remember.
Thanks for reading 💌