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Today is the day! The day that is three days before the day we leave for Peru, that is. It is the time for final pack checks and then scrambling to find an open outdoor store during Labor Day weekend when you realize you don’t have a proper lightweight towel (totally wasn’t me).
Today, when I took a break from pre-trip duties, it sunk in further that this is happening. Allie and I are going on a ten-month trip around the world; experiencing new places, new people, and growing as individuals and as a couple. This is the first blog post I’ve ever done so I didn’t really know what to write. So I’ve just been thinking about what this all feels like for everyone.
The word of the week for my mom is “terrifying”. As a mom, it must be hard to let your youngest son go off into the world. It’s understandable for her to feel that way, and I am grateful that she’s also excited for me to get the chance to travel in a way she never could.
I asked Allie how she’s feeling today in NC and she replied with feelings of immense gratitude. She said, “Driving home, there was this incredible sunset and it just felt like God was throwing me a going away party. It made me think about all the people who are supporting us and rooting for us and all this beautiful world around us”.
We are incredibly lucky to have this chance. There is so much out there to explore and we get the opportunity to do it! We have been preparing for this trip for a while and now that it is here, all we can do is stand back in gratitude. Whether it was guidance on where to go, money for the trip, or your girlfriend’s father buying you a $2 mosquito net for your hat, there is lots of that gratitude to go around.
Looking inside myself, I feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Currently my nervousness is focused on practical concerns— did I pack enough without being over-encumbered? Where am I gonna stash the cash? Most importantly, where am I gonna put my five juggling balls?
Stepping back from packing though, a little voice in my head will ask me if I can really do this, travel the world for ten months. If the stress is high, that might give me pause, but ultimately I’m excited by this challenge. We are going to have such an amazing experience, even if part of it comes from wading through the muckier parts of life. I’ve always believed that to grow you need to struggle— challenging yourself, your beliefs, and your preconceptions so that you can ultimately better yourself. Now that’s easier said than done (as the kids say) but when you have someone by your side that you care about and trust to strengthen your weaknesses, there’s nothing to fear...even when the cashier laughs at you for forgetting the Spanish word for bread or something. I expect that will happen to me at least thrice.