Almost everybody who knows me, knows I love to travel. Every now and then, I will catch myself daydreaming about my next adventure, backpack in one hand, camera in the other. After all these years, there's a part of me that still very much loves being abroad, feeling comfortable, but not completely secure, not really knowing where I'll be or when I will be going home.
I thrive under this rather than staying at home and going through the daily motions of life. I feel liberated and free.
2001 was the year I read Peter Hessler's River Town. As cheesy as this may sound, it was his book that inspired me to move and teach in China. I suppressed my yearnings for a number of years before I said, "The hell with it," and made the move. The rest is well...you know :)
When I looked into the Marshall University Teach in China program, I found a list of past participants. I emailed one guy randomly to make sure the program was legit. Turns out, this random stranger (let's call him Mr. Wanderlust) kept a blog of his travels. I read about his teaching experience in Changsha, was once again drawn to the exoticism of China and made up my mind to apply.
Over the past 3 years, I would occasionally click on Mr. Wanderlust's blog and look for inspiration for my own adventures. He had a similar background as I did. We both resigned from our jobs in New York and devoted our lives to traveling. Well...for me, sort of (I'm still doing the 9 to 5 thing...although not complaining at all :) ). Mr. W was a true nomad. Every time I checked his blog, he was always off to a new place.
Anyway, I clicked on his blog tonight and sadly, found out he moved home last summer. At the same time, I also recently read an article that Peter Hessler and his wife have left China and moved to the Middle East.
While this may sound far fetched, I was a little sad to learn that the two people who inspired me to set-off on my own journey have concluded theirs and moved on. I guess that's the inevitable truth with traveling. At some point, the trip ends, and we must return home.
As for me? I don't know yet. Still undecided.
Random thoughts and pictures of my experiences in China and the rest of the world.
2 comments:
I may have moved home but who knows where I'll go next. Afterall, the JOURNEY is never really over Em, is it????
Well, you have time to get your ducks in a row before acting? :P
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