Ripping my hair out...

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So I have officially started the countdown. It is either 9 or 10 days before I leave. I will probably not have my flight booked until 1-2 days before departure just due to the fact that they can't book my flight until my visa is placed in my passport and I get that back in the mail. Yesterday, I started packing all of my clothes. I bought those ridiculous space saver bags-and yes, they do save space indeed-but my one bag already weighs 65 pounds and that is just a PORTION of my clothes! I still have to pack backup supplies of red hair dye, tampons (since those are harder to come by in Korea), toothpaste, makeup (oh Jesus, there is another 65 pounds just in itself), and shoes.

During this packing extravaganza, Cami (my dog) just laid there watching me pack with the look in her eyes of "where are we going now?" I feel terrible, because this time, she isn't moving with me.

There are things about leaving your current life behind that, if thought about too much, will prevent you from ever taking the risk of moving abroad. Of course there are days where I think to myself, "WHY THE F*&# am I moving to South Korea?" And then I think of staying, and know that this is what I want to do, and will never regret doing.

Before making the decision to travel abroad again, I discussed the option with many friends and family members. Everyone who had chosen to stay in a relationship, stay at a job, have children, or go to graduate school over traveling said they wish they would have traveled. This is not to say that people regret their lives, but I don't want to look back and think, "ahhh-I was going to do that." I want to look back and say, "hell yeah I did that."

We get one life that we remember. I don't want to take for granted this amazing life I have been given, when so many others don't even get the chance to do these things. I believe that this next step of going to Korea will open up opportunities for a life of travel and service. So I am following my spirit and starting a new adventure. There is a lot of fear involved, but this is all part of this crazy, amazing experience.



I will end with a quote I read in the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts (a must read for anyone wanting to travel):

"The cowardly belief that a person must stay in one place is too reminiscent of an unquestioning resignation of animals, beasts of burden stupefied by servitude and yet always willing to accept the slipping on of the harness. There are limits to every domain, and laws to govern every organized power. But the vagrant owns the whole vast earth that ends only at the non-existent horizon, and her empire is an intangible one, for her domination and enjoyment of it are things of the spirit." -Isabelle Eberhardt P.151

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Comments

[ZT]

Love it, Live it.
So excited for you, cousin. I love the part - (I want to look back and say, "hell yeah I did that.") - rings with me Best of luck. That is all.