anniversary

So it's been awhile since I posted. A lot has happened in the past two weeks—well, not really, but a few things have happened.

My one-year anniversary of being back in the US took place. It's strange to think that my overseas experience ended more than a year ago. In some ways it seems like forever ago that I was living out a of a backpack, eating dinner at night markets, and sleeping in a different place every few nights. But at the same time, it's hard for me to believe that that part of my life is over. I spent months planning my move and wondering how it would all turn out. And I spent so many years hoping I could one day live abroad and visit different countries. In several of my college classes I had to write out a life mission statement or life goals of some sort. In all of those assignments I wrote that I wanted to live overseas. And it's weird that I now have. I think if I was given one of those assignments today, I would still include that goal.

I guess some goals are never really "reached." They become a part of you, something you're always striving for, another aspect of your personality. At least I hope so. I hope that my love of travel and new cultures isn't just some phase I'm going through because I'm young. I hope that living in New Zealand and backpacking in Asia isn't the pinnacle of my travel adventure. I suppose if that is the case, I shouldn't be ashamed—I did reach my goal. But I don't want it to be over. At least not yet.