My Favorite Memories: Looking Back & Looking Ahead

I wrote this the summer that I came home from studying abroad,
and just recently found it again.

I really love reading this - it's amazing to see my feelings on returning from my study abroad semester,
and looking at my feelings now, over two years later.

To have come home from such an adventure, and feel that I'd changed so much.
And seeing as I'm now London-bound for good in less than a week...
I guess it wasn't just a phase.


06.24.12

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

Never did I think that a semester abroad would change everything I was so confident about
and flip my desires to the future into a completely different direction. 
Thinking about leaving the country for almost half of a years time, all by myself? 
To be honest, that kind of scared me. 

With a little push and shove though, I decided that with my newly-found independence
I may as well get out there and try something else new on my own - a little adventure?
Might be good for me.

What I didn't realize, was how good it really was.

So much has been given to me in five short months away from my home that I never thought was possible.
I've learned the beauty of spontaneity. 
I've learned how much more there is to this world, beyond what I've known for so long. 
And there is still so much to learn - about yourself, about others, and about this world.
I have learned how much I am capable of - living in a completely new environment,
exploring a city that I knew nothing about 2 days before I decided to fly there for a weekend,
that I am so much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for. 

I remember trekking through Scotland and having that moment
where I realized how much more is out there for me. 
There is something about making the journey to get somewhere, taking a seat, 
and looking out at that incredible view that makes your see that your life and 
the possibilities are endless.

My favorite quote comes from J. R. R. Tolkien; 'Not all those who wander are lost.'
My goals and ideas for the future have changed drastically since I have gone on my adventure,
which can be stressful, but if I've come home with any knowledge 
regarding what's to come in my life though, it's that it isn't bad to drift off path a little bit, 
and that you may not be getting lost at all, but finding where you are supposed to be.

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