Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry I stopped posting in April. I just kept traveling and then procrastinating so I never got around to blogging about the rest of my adventures. Instead of backtracking the past few months I'm going to write a simple conclusion to my year of traveling.
So, so, so much has happened since September that it is difficult to wrap my brain around the changes that have occurred in my life. I can't count the amount of people I've met that have forever changed me. It's scary to think I didn't know some of my good friends a year ago.
To recap my traveling schedule:
London, England
Glasgow, Scotland
Dublin, Ireland
Countless cities in the Irish countryside (Shamrocker Tours!)
Rome, Italy
Mykonos, Greece
Athens, Greece
Oxford, England
Paris, France
Cairns, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Sunshine Coast, Australia
Gold Coast/Surfers Paradise, Australia
Hong Kong, China
Macau, China
Christchurch, NZ
Queenstown, NZ
New Zealand Countryside
Sydney, Australia
Melborne, Austraila
Looking at that list is incredible. My eyes have been opened to the world and there's no going back. I've been to 4 continents in the past 10 months, 2 of which were totally new to me. The scary question I have to ask myself is how I can go back to normal life. The good news is when I left for London I left a life I loved and people I cherished. I wasn't running away from anything, I was running towards adventure. I never knew studying abroad would be so challenging. It's not as easy as you may think it is; I've been on my own living in two different countries with nothing familiar except phone calls, emails, and skype sessions with friends thousands upon thousands of miles away. Every experience I had challenged me to go far beyond the reaches of independence that I had ever known and has made me grow as a friend, a relative, and a human being.
Home feels like a dream. The thought of being with my mom and dad, friends and family seems a distant memory that I will never get back, yet in less than 2 weeks that's what my life will be. I'm going to wake up in New York and think that I dreamed my time in Australia and all the amazing, wonderful, lovable, and outstanding people I've met were just my imagination.
These last few months have really worn me down and made me miss the familiar and miss home, but now that I'm going back to that so soon I have to pause and think that I won't be coming back to Australia for many years, if ever again and that thought is very scary to think. The 109 bus to University of Queensland won't exist, going up to apartment 98 to hang out with the boys won't ever happen again, and walking through south bank and the lagoon won't be a part of my weekly activities.
This year has been the most fantastic experience of my life, and it's about to end. 10 days until I'm boarding a plane to LAX and America. 10 days left of exploring and discovering and being in Australia. There's no conclusion that can make it easier to think it's over.
All I know is the next year will be an adventure all to itself; I will be a senior in college, living in an apartment, concluding 4 years of happiness at American University (well, technically 3). I'll be finding out where I will be working after graduation, what I'll be doing, and evolving into an adult. My life won't be surrounded by professors, papers, exams, classes, and college weekends. It's exciting and frightening and wonderful.
Life is full of happiness, sadness, excitement, adventure, and wonder. I've seeked it with my eyes open, I've discovered parts of the world I never knew existed and have gotten the skills I need to face my next adventures in life.
When I get off the plane in New York I'll be ready.
I'll be ready to take on the next parts of my life.
Thank you all for following my blog and seeing what I've been up to. Hearing from people I haven't spoken to in years who have told me they've been following me and enjoyed my experiences was truly a blessing. It's been great posting pictures and posts about my time abroad and attempting you let you in to the amazing parts of my life.
Cheers!
On to the next adventure!
Miriam
I'm sorry I stopped posting in April. I just kept traveling and then procrastinating so I never got around to blogging about the rest of my adventures. Instead of backtracking the past few months I'm going to write a simple conclusion to my year of traveling.
So, so, so much has happened since September that it is difficult to wrap my brain around the changes that have occurred in my life. I can't count the amount of people I've met that have forever changed me. It's scary to think I didn't know some of my good friends a year ago.
To recap my traveling schedule:
London, England
Glasgow, Scotland
Dublin, Ireland
Countless cities in the Irish countryside (Shamrocker Tours!)
Rome, Italy
Mykonos, Greece
Athens, Greece
Oxford, England
Paris, France
Cairns, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Sunshine Coast, Australia
Gold Coast/Surfers Paradise, Australia
Hong Kong, China
Macau, China
Christchurch, NZ
Queenstown, NZ
New Zealand Countryside
Sydney, Australia
Melborne, Austraila
Looking at that list is incredible. My eyes have been opened to the world and there's no going back. I've been to 4 continents in the past 10 months, 2 of which were totally new to me. The scary question I have to ask myself is how I can go back to normal life. The good news is when I left for London I left a life I loved and people I cherished. I wasn't running away from anything, I was running towards adventure. I never knew studying abroad would be so challenging. It's not as easy as you may think it is; I've been on my own living in two different countries with nothing familiar except phone calls, emails, and skype sessions with friends thousands upon thousands of miles away. Every experience I had challenged me to go far beyond the reaches of independence that I had ever known and has made me grow as a friend, a relative, and a human being.
Home feels like a dream. The thought of being with my mom and dad, friends and family seems a distant memory that I will never get back, yet in less than 2 weeks that's what my life will be. I'm going to wake up in New York and think that I dreamed my time in Australia and all the amazing, wonderful, lovable, and outstanding people I've met were just my imagination.
These last few months have really worn me down and made me miss the familiar and miss home, but now that I'm going back to that so soon I have to pause and think that I won't be coming back to Australia for many years, if ever again and that thought is very scary to think. The 109 bus to University of Queensland won't exist, going up to apartment 98 to hang out with the boys won't ever happen again, and walking through south bank and the lagoon won't be a part of my weekly activities.
This year has been the most fantastic experience of my life, and it's about to end. 10 days until I'm boarding a plane to LAX and America. 10 days left of exploring and discovering and being in Australia. There's no conclusion that can make it easier to think it's over.
All I know is the next year will be an adventure all to itself; I will be a senior in college, living in an apartment, concluding 4 years of happiness at American University (well, technically 3). I'll be finding out where I will be working after graduation, what I'll be doing, and evolving into an adult. My life won't be surrounded by professors, papers, exams, classes, and college weekends. It's exciting and frightening and wonderful.
Life is full of happiness, sadness, excitement, adventure, and wonder. I've seeked it with my eyes open, I've discovered parts of the world I never knew existed and have gotten the skills I need to face my next adventures in life.
When I get off the plane in New York I'll be ready.
I'll be ready to take on the next parts of my life.
Thank you all for following my blog and seeing what I've been up to. Hearing from people I haven't spoken to in years who have told me they've been following me and enjoyed my experiences was truly a blessing. It's been great posting pictures and posts about my time abroad and attempting you let you in to the amazing parts of my life.
Cheers!
On to the next adventure!
Miriam