The Beginning
Although I’d like to tell you I woke up this morning feeling energized and excited for my trip, I want to be completely candid. I woke up with a pit in my stomach and a flood of anxieties rushing through my brain. I had a little bit of last minute packing to finish, and I found that I couldn’t steady my hands as I folded and organized what was essentially my life in a couple of oversized maroon bags. I paced up and down the hall, gathering some of the final essentials, watching the clock creep closer to my departure.
At 10:30am, I left my home and drove to SFO with my mom, who is traveling with me for the first week in Buenos Aires and helping me move into my new home in Santa Fe. She was, like always, bright and chipper, talking at a thousands words a minute, not noticing, or perhaps purposefully not acknowledging, my anxiety. I sat in the backseat, silent, staring down at my phone, texting my college (ex??) boyfriend who had graduated and moved to NYC. Although we decided to end things with the separation, we still care for and love each other very much and have communicated that we want nothing less but the best for the other person, even if that means experiencing new things with other people and in separate places. We discussed how the discomfort I was experiencing should not be considered bad or harmful; it was simply a raw and a completely l
egitimate feeling. To shift the attitude from anxiety to excitement, he proceeded to request that I mention some of the things I was looking forward to. My reply: “meeting new people, experiencing a new culture, learning, being independent, traveling, and writing”. This was actually the first time I had expressed my desire to start this blog. Although this serves as a means of keeping my friends and family updated on my travel, the real reason I wanted to start this blog was a completely selfish one. I knew it would function as an excuse/motivation for me to take more pictures, reflect deeper on my experiences, and record my genuine feelings consistently. It will allow me to go back and observe how my character changes and morphs, which I find is essential for personal and professional growth.
So here I am, honest and unfiltered. Enjoy (or don’t). Share with me your thoughts. Send me travel recommendations. Help keep me grounded and connected. Talk soon.