In just two short weeks I will be hopping on a plane leaving Southern Spain and heading back to the states. My summer here has been wonderful and I am so grateful to have experienced this culture.

I will be doing some traveling around Europe before I head back in early July. I am very excited to see places I’ve dreamt about and get out of Spain for a bit. I have gotten very accustomed to living a carefree, stress-free life and choosing how I want spent my time. The best thing about living here this summer is realizing that there was no place that I had to be or appointments to get too. I could sleep in if I wanted, go for a run on the beach, engage in creativity, ride my bike into town for a café, or take the ferry over to Cadiz for a little shopping.

I cannot express enough what a joy my time here has been. In some ways it feels like a dream.

So, as my adventure in Southern Spain comes to a close I wonder what sort of new adventures will unfold in the future.

I’ve started to feel the pull and a sense of dread in returning to the states. The pull that I am referring to is responsibility, structure, and other people’s expectations of me. I’ve been feeling some resistance in facing it. My world has changed. I have changed.

I wonder if I will view my old life differently now that I’ve traveled a bit. Will I fall back into conveniences that living in America offer? Or will it feel like excess, over done or overwhelming? Will I yearn for simplicity that I’ve come to know by living here?

My dear friend read me this passage that someone close to her wrote after one of his many adventures.

“I remain committed to my journey;
I feel the weight of the mundane
already pulling me
wanting me back to the person I used to be.
My eyes are open wider, my mind sees more
processes more, understands more.
It is comforting to know that we don’t have to be all, do all, know all, be first, be right, be the greatest, be the best.
Just be. Be calm, kind, loving and quiet. 
It is not all about you. That is a good thing. You are free.”

I think it sums up that pull very well and how travel abroad has shifted parts with in me.While I’ll look upon my world differently I am a different person in ways that I can’t yet verbalize. Travel has changed me. I am so proud of myself for making the choice to get on that plane. My past is protected, my future is free.