At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don’t keep other people out, they fence you in. Life is messy. That’s how we’re made. So you can waste your life drawing lines… or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines… that are way too dangerous to cross. Here’s what I know: If you’re willing to take the chance, the view from the other side… is spectacular.
And that is exactly what this trip has been about. Each one of us finding the edge of our comfort zones, and then pushing it even further to explore even bigger and brighter things. We spent long hours together. Learning so much about each other, and about ourselves. Three months in another country can really change a person. But not enough for you yourself to notice, just enough for your friends and family back home to notice. You get back and everyone has questions. "What was your favorite place? What was your favorite part? What do you miss?"
Well. To answer the questions... All of it. Now of course there were parts, as for every trip, that weren't so great. But I assure you the bests far over weigh the worsts. But lets get to the last bit of my trip. I left Olomouc and headed to Prague, very very excited to JUST GET HOME! So excited in fact that I didn't sleep... Partly because I was too nervous to miss my flight, as I still didn't have a phone, and partly because the thought of being back in the states in less that twenty-four hours was too overwhelming for my brain to shut down.
After a rough time getting my two huge luggage cases to my hostel, staying up all night, then dragging them to the airport (breaking one in the process) I was just ready to get on the plane and leave. I went to check in my luggage and lo-and-behold, I had to pay for an extra piece of luggage. A long and emotion story short, I threw out half of my luggage and ended up taking what I could cram into my other suitcase. But I was off. I boarded the plane and with a sigh of relief took off for home. With the recent attacks in Europe the security was tight, and I was searched at EVERY airport I stopped at.
Fifteen hours later I was finally home! I was greated by my teary eyed mother, as the rest of my family didn't know I was coming home early. We drove the long road home, stopping a few times because of various visual impairing storms, and by 2 a.m. I was finally back home. I snuck up into my room making sure not to wake the rest of my family.
The next morning I was awoken by the screams of my sister. I was finally home and she was going to make sure the world knew it. The day continued and I continued surprising more and more of my friends and family. Tears were shed and laughs were had and it lasted for about a week or two.
About a week after getting home I came across another blog which perfectly explained what it is like to come home. I leave the link to the blog in the bottom if you want to read it, it isn't too long, and is definitely worth the read. I definitely could not explain it any better than the author has. But for those of you who didn't read it, it basically says that you go out into the world, learn so much about the culture and you find yourself, then you come home and you're all everyone wants to talk about. But then after the high of coming home has dulled, you're sitting alone and realize nothing has truly changed here. Sure some people back home have a new job or boyfriend, but they don't realize how much you as a person has changed. It goes on to say that "I don’t mean hair, weight, dress or anything else that has to do with appearance. I mean what’s going on inside of your head. The way your dreams have changed, they way you perceive people differently, the habits you’re happy you lost, the new things that are important to you. You want everyone to recognize this and you want to share and discuss it, but there’s no way to describe the way your spirit evolves when you leave everything you know behind and force yourself to use your brain in a real capacity, not on a written test in school. You know you’re thinking differently because you experience it every second of every day inside your head, but how do you communicate that to others?" This is all too true. I came back and sure I've shared my experiences with people, but I don't want to be 'that' person that only talks about their trip. You know that person, we ALL know that person. The type of person that no matter the conversational topic, finds some way to say "Well when I was in...". I just couldn't and still can't get myself to be that person, because truthfully no matter how hard I try to explain my experiences, you cannot and will not see it the way I did. So what we have here is a down right conundrum. I spent three months in Europe and all I really brought back with me was the knowledge of some other language that no one else around me can speak, and experiences I can't truly get others to understand. Now I see why travelers devote their lives to finding new places. Being back home just doesn't do it for them any more. There is so much out in the world to see that people truly cannot explain to you.
Well. To answer the questions... All of it. Now of course there were parts, as for every trip, that weren't so great. But I assure you the bests far over weigh the worsts. But lets get to the last bit of my trip. I left Olomouc and headed to Prague, very very excited to JUST GET HOME! So excited in fact that I didn't sleep... Partly because I was too nervous to miss my flight, as I still didn't have a phone, and partly because the thought of being back in the states in less that twenty-four hours was too overwhelming for my brain to shut down.
After a rough time getting my two huge luggage cases to my hostel, staying up all night, then dragging them to the airport (breaking one in the process) I was just ready to get on the plane and leave. I went to check in my luggage and lo-and-behold, I had to pay for an extra piece of luggage. A long and emotion story short, I threw out half of my luggage and ended up taking what I could cram into my other suitcase. But I was off. I boarded the plane and with a sigh of relief took off for home. With the recent attacks in Europe the security was tight, and I was searched at EVERY airport I stopped at.
Fifteen hours later I was finally home! I was greated by my teary eyed mother, as the rest of my family didn't know I was coming home early. We drove the long road home, stopping a few times because of various visual impairing storms, and by 2 a.m. I was finally back home. I snuck up into my room making sure not to wake the rest of my family.
The next morning I was awoken by the screams of my sister. I was finally home and she was going to make sure the world knew it. The day continued and I continued surprising more and more of my friends and family. Tears were shed and laughs were had and it lasted for about a week or two.
About a week after getting home I came across another blog which perfectly explained what it is like to come home. I leave the link to the blog in the bottom if you want to read it, it isn't too long, and is definitely worth the read. I definitely could not explain it any better than the author has. But for those of you who didn't read it, it basically says that you go out into the world, learn so much about the culture and you find yourself, then you come home and you're all everyone wants to talk about. But then after the high of coming home has dulled, you're sitting alone and realize nothing has truly changed here. Sure some people back home have a new job or boyfriend, but they don't realize how much you as a person has changed. It goes on to say that "I don’t mean hair, weight, dress or anything else that has to do with appearance. I mean what’s going on inside of your head. The way your dreams have changed, they way you perceive people differently, the habits you’re happy you lost, the new things that are important to you. You want everyone to recognize this and you want to share and discuss it, but there’s no way to describe the way your spirit evolves when you leave everything you know behind and force yourself to use your brain in a real capacity, not on a written test in school. You know you’re thinking differently because you experience it every second of every day inside your head, but how do you communicate that to others?" This is all too true. I came back and sure I've shared my experiences with people, but I don't want to be 'that' person that only talks about their trip. You know that person, we ALL know that person. The type of person that no matter the conversational topic, finds some way to say "Well when I was in...". I just couldn't and still can't get myself to be that person, because truthfully no matter how hard I try to explain my experiences, you cannot and will not see it the way I did. So what we have here is a down right conundrum. I spent three months in Europe and all I really brought back with me was the knowledge of some other language that no one else around me can speak, and experiences I can't truly get others to understand. Now I see why travelers devote their lives to finding new places. Being back home just doesn't do it for them any more. There is so much out in the world to see that people truly cannot explain to you.
So I will leave you with this.
We're all going to die. We don't get to say over how or when. But we do get to decide how we live. So do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate? Decide.
So yes, you can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life by crossing them.
https://london2cape.com/adventure-travel/the-hardest-part-of-travelling/
https://london2cape.com/adventure-travel/the-hardest-part-of-travelling/
That is beautiful Preston, well done.
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