I’ve craved travel for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I used to watch streaming videos from different places all over the world, watching people go about their days, wondering what it was like to be in another city, state, country. I ‘liked’ and ‘hearted’ internet friends’ posts as they traveled abroad through work and school. When the opportunity came for me, I was elated. It came at a time when I desperately needed change in my life.
As the plane took off from Indianapolis and landed in Charlotte, then from Charlotte to New York, New York to London, and finally London to Greece and I took my first step on foreign ground, I found myself terrified. After an exhilarating and whirlwind of a 2 day period, everything I knew and loved was five thousand five hundred and sixty six miles behind me. I had the change I wanted and suddenly I didn’t know what to do with it, and yet at the same time there was nowhere else I’d rather be. It was an exhausting and confusing feeling. The people I traveled with, who I initially thought of as school friends and classmates, quickly turned into people I consider family as we navigated the globe together. We’ve leaned heavily on each other with each new flight and city, celebrated our successes, shared our difficulties, and grown together throughout the course of this trip so far.
Throughout my life, ‘home’ has meant many different things, and sometimes it’s been difficult to decide when and where ‘home’ is. With my first experience abroad, I’ve realized what home is. Home is where I can grow and learn. Home is where I can sit with people I love, laugh and cry together, share the good things, let them help me carry the bad things.
In short, I am home.
Until next time,
Elise Walker