Travel--and Its therapeutic qualities.

Dear fellow bloggers,

Everyone needs a place to start. Somewhere to call "reality" amongst chaos. A place to be one's "home" in spite of its qualities which might not seem so home-y to someone else. That place started in the Midwest for me, then shifted to the West coast, and now is settled on the East. I've always been intrigued by travel. Some of the very best books are about traveling to other countries. Books like "Three Cups of Tea", "Eat, Pray, Love" and "The Caliph's House". Some of the best experiences have come from individuals studying abroad, visiting other countries. Now more than ever I want to pick up and go. Just go. I can see myself just about anywhere, really. In Italy, I fall in love with the language as much as my waistline would fall in love with the carbs. I revel in the beautiful language, take baths in barely enough water, and go to sleep every night with sore feet from all of my travels. In Italy, I'd fall in love with a new kind of life. In Australia, I fall in love with Nutella and bar-b-que's and the australian outback. My heart swoons for the accent and my eyes for the dusty red clay roads and exotic wild life. In Australia, I'd fall in love with a new kind of life. In England, I fall in love with giant puddles and umbrellas, shop windows, musky smelling libraries, tea and crumpets. I fall in love with British boys and mopeds. In England, I'd fall in love with a new kind of life. In France, I fall in love with the culture. I fall in love with french chocolates and french food, the french language and showering less often. In France, I'd fall in love with a new kind of life. In India, I fall in love with bangle bracelets and the Ganges river, Baliwood and long skirts. I'd fall in love with a new kind of life. In Uganda, I fall in love with every child I meet. I fall in love with the stray goats, how giving everyone is, the intense heat. In Uganda, I fall in love with a new kind of life. In Greece, I fall in love with the ocean and the houses, the music and the donkeys. I fall in love with a new kind of life. There is not a place I wouldn't like to go! And I wonder, how would life change for me? What if home, ceased to be home, and a new place became home? But then, everytime I go somewhere new it becomes home. You find yourself desiring one place just to get there and desire the other. Where is home when it's in the Midwest, on the West Coast, on the East Coast and in England? Where's home when it's in Italy but also simultaenously in Uganda, and Australia, and India, and Greece, and France? Life can't be lived in fear. Says Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Every day has enough trouble of its own." My view: You can't be afraid to pick up and leave. Your best friends will always be waiting for you to return and the new ones just waiting to meet you. Culture shock exists, but you it changes you in good ways. If you are extremely fearful of something, it only means its worth trying. Afterall, where would our nation be if the immigrants had never ventured to come over on the Mayflower? Seize the day! It doesn't matter how much money is in your pocket, if you have enough money to get where you are going, you'll figure out the rest once you are there. Otherwise, if you wait to have enough money you'll never have enough and you'll never take a risk. Pour your heart into a new place and you'll find that you reap the benefits. You may never want to leave.

Until later bloggers,
Frogger