I feel this need to validate and justify our reasons for so much travel. I don’t mean to sound like a complete dick saying this but we’re off again. Out of Delhi for the 5th time in 5 months. There are several reasons for all the traveling we do. I hate giving off the impression that we do whatever we want, whenever we want. Truth be told, we are fortunate in that the company Glen works dog-heartedly for gives us certain benefits to ‘keep us happy’ so that we’ll stay in India for our agreed duration. We knew we would take advantage of our situation being in S. Asia. We knew we would spend this time in our lives traveling as much as we could prior to having kids and settling down a bit. Glen travels a lot for work, he always has. But I think some people mistake it for a luxury when really he is catching 2am flights only to get off the plane and head straight to work all day, have work meetings until late, and get up early the next morning to work again. He rarely ever gets the chance to enjoy the new cities he finds himself in. He only sees the inside of hotel rooms, taxi’s, factories, and airports. This particular trip is Glen’s annual work meeting in Florence. He hated the thought of leaving me alone in Delhi so here I am in Florence, getting ready to take a train (all by my lonesome, woohoo!) to Rome. He’ll be working all day every day so I’m gonna’ go bugger off (told ya I’d be using some English slang) for a day or two. Reflecting on how much travel I’ve done in the past year. There was a time not that long ago when I had to plan ahead for such a trip and save up money to take that trip because I didn’t want to put a luxury on a credit card. I think there is value in doing that when you don’t have a lot of disposable income. Nothing in life has come easy for me so in a way I feel guilty for the good fortune I’ve had by meeting Glen and being able to travel the world. Before I had met him I had only gone to Costa Rica and Amsterdam in my adult life. I’ve also traveled all over the U.S. but flying for a few hours puts you in a different state. It just doesn’t sound as cool as landing in another country like in Europe. Just in this past year I’ve been to 8 other countries. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen to a girl like me. Believe me, I am grateful. Jet lagged….but grateful. My once open eyes are now a little wider, my open mind a little more tolerant, my heart a little softer in some ways, harder in others. I will try not to take these experiences for granted. Not everybody gets to see the world. Not everybody wants to. But it has been mind blowing and certainly life changing for me. This girl who struggled to support herself through school, trusted her heart with the wrong people, and who still seeks familial emotional support, acceptance and understanding, who harbors issues with giving up parts of her independence for this chance at happily-ever-after. I’ve worked hard to get where I am in life. I am proud of myself. I can’t say I deserve all this new found freedom from the daily grind because I know people that have struggled more than I have through life. But I am trying to let myself be spoiled a little bit by someone who promised to give me the world….and is literally doing just what he said he would do….a rarity in my previous experiences. I’m not done learning and growing, certainly not done working and expanding. But just for right now, I am going to enjoy this unusual time in my life and learn how to shed the guilt. Because lord knows…I will be back at work soon enough and hopefully someday back at school. I don’t want to look back at this experience and wonder why I didn’t just shut up and enjoy this time off. So to Glen I say thank you. Thank you for being wonderful, for walking into my life when I didn’t expect you and taking me by complete surprise, for never playing any bullshit games with me, for being my rock, for working so hard even when you don’t want to...it doesn’t go unnoticed. Thank you for understanding how hard it was for me to leave everything and thank you for making it worth it.
