‘Twas the night before home

September 15, 2010

I am at Frankfurt Main. I left Croatia two days after Grandma passed away. It took the entire day to get to Frankfurt — shuttle to Zadar Airport, delayed RyanAir flight, shuttle from FHN to the main airport.

And, it is my official last night of my trip. Tomorrow, I head home.

But, it’s not really my home. Yes, I grew up in that house. The room my bed is in was my old room. But, it’s not the place I live. I don’t have that anymore.

For the past six months, the place I lived was Europe. Every five or so days, I had a new home. And, I was OK with that. But now, there is no destination. No plan. I head back to Maryland and then ??

The past six months I have breathed with more passion, more life, move love than I have ever done before. I have learned more about me, learned to like more — more than I have ever before.

The conclusion of my trip is bittersweet. I come home under the saddest of times for me, but am so excited to take the next step. Yes, I would have liked to stay in Europe longer. Yes, I would have liked to go to Spain. But, the beauty of travel is it will ALWAYS be there. I can be 30, I can be 31, I can be 50 … and Spain will still be there. Europe will still be there.

When I started this adventure, I wrote about how my life was changed because of someone I met, but have come to realize I was wrong.

Thanks to Katie.

Her last night in Zadar, she and I spent talking about our past. And I told her about T and showed her the entry I had written about him.

“You give him too much credit,” she said. “He isn’t responsible for this trip. YOU made the decision. YOU took the trip. YOU wanted to take the trip. T had nothing to do with it. This was about YOU all along.”

And you know what?

She’s right.