I am about to embark upon the great
journey for which I have striven for many months. Or at least, I think I am. I guess it still hasn’t really hit me yet. I just arrived in New York City and am
staying on Long Island for about the next 24 hours. Then, I take a red eye straight to Senegal. With all of the preliminary traveling
and excitement, I am still remarkably calm. No waves of anticipation are washing over me. I think the only thing I am truly
feeling is hunger, since I haven’t had a real meal today.
I guess what I am trying to convey
is that I am surprised at my lack of emotion, considering all of the
preparations that I have made for the last 6 months, all of the goodbyes I have
said over the past weeks, and the fact that I am going to be living in a
different country for the next 2.5 years.
Perhaps it is because I know that I cannot predict how things will be
for me in the upcoming months that I am at peace with my path. I have been mentally prepared for being
a Peace Corps volunteer for years.
The thought of moving to a completely different place and living a more
basic and rewarding lifestyle completely appeals to me.
I think I am quite ready for
another adventure.
A
trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other
journeys. It has personality, temperament,
individuality, uniqueness. A
journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are
fruitless. We find after years of
struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.
Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck
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