Days before my departure to travel the world, I felt very nervous. I was hoping that I made the right decision. After all it was almost too late to turn back now. I packed up my life in what seemed to be a few boxes and decided to venture out on my own.
I remember feeling emptiness inside that I was going to miss out on certain events in my family's lives. I then started thinking about how fortunate I was to have this opportunity and I told myself that things always have a way to work themselves out.
The day I was catching my flight out of the country was the day where reality really kicked in. I was packing two suitcases I would treasure for the next year or so. My dad drove me to the airport an hour early, enough time to really think about the fact that I wasn't coming home tonight, this weekend, or this month. We sat there waiting for boarding time quietly as if we were hoping time was standing still. Finally we got called. I said my final goodbyes, for now, and walked into what was the greatest adventure of my life. The unknown.
The excitement really kicked in when I landed in New Jersey. I knew then and there that this was for certain, without a shread of doubt, the right decision for me. After a long flight to Florida I found myself in my Hilton Suite and knew I couldn't wait to start living.
The next day I woke up early, after a long night's rest, to go explore what Florida, my new home, had to offer. I was amazed how beautiful Florida really was. The heat was second to none. I left Canada at minus thirty five degrees celcius. This was a sixty degree difference. I then caught my shuttle to Broward County to meet up with the Navigator of the Seas in the port. I was really astonished by how big those ships were. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. I am talking like Empire State Building big.
I got on the ship, went through the crew office, registered myself, and set off to find my cabin. As time went on, I met amazing people who thought me so much. The life that I had spent twenty-one years living was gone and now I was starting a new chapter in my life. The chapter where everyone on land would never understand my new life. That's when someone told me that little bit of truth. I really took it with a grain of salt because I felt like I was going to go back to Canada and continue where I left off.
I was wrong. It seemed that everytime I was leaving a country, I left a little bit of myself there. When I returned home, time had stood still, but everything was different and people didn't understand me anymore. I had seen things that they could only imagine. I couldn't relate to anything or anyone. My life was now abroad. Leaving anywhere can be a very difficult thing to encounter. I was never really arriving anywhere. It was most difinitely a transitional period in my life. It was one that I would do over a million times without ever looking back. I realised that my fears were just in my own head, and that I was going to do well out there.
Even after talking to many people who are now back home, either thinking of going back, or settling down, most find their experience undescribable. You could only ever relate to the strangers around you. I don't think you can ever experience that without traveling towards the unknown solo.
The picture above is taken at the back of the ship. We saw that everytime we left a country and were off to the next. This is a huge reminder of how truely blessed I am to have had such an experience at my age. It's also a reminder that there is always another country ahead waiting for me to explore. I cannot wait to get back to my life. The life of a gypsy!
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