As I write this post, there are 2 days, 21 hours, 2 minutes, and 20 seconds before I am sitting in a plane (hopefully with a window seat), waiting to take off on an almost 24 hour journey to St. Petersburg, Russia. Though I don’t necessarily enjoy spending my time in airports, there is absolutely no doubt that I am ready for the next four months of travel.
The first time I left the United States I was 13 years old, and I was ready for the plunge. Thinking back to that day, I don’t remember being daunted or worried about my future weeks in England, France, and Spain. I can only remember my excitement to see what I, then and now, consider a whole new world. In fact, it was this first trip that determined my future interest in all things foreign. Since then I have scoured newspapers and blogs for international relations news, attempted to conquer difficult languages, and organized my own mini study abroads in Spain, Australia, Ecuador, and The Republic of Georgia.
Now, as I prepare and over prepare myself for yet another trip, I seem to be accessing the same amount of unhindered enthusiasm as that first flight over the Atlantic. I can’t wait to meet the other participants of the program and my host family, to start my classes, and to see the sights in and around Russia.
It is simply strange to think that all my Georgetown friends have already begun classes without me. Having spent the past two years shuttling myself between DC and San Francisco, it certainly feels strange to be packing for Russia and its frigid winters as opposed to the still humid, hot Georgetown Autumn.
Of course, it will also be sad to leave home. My last month in California has truly been wonderful: chock full of home cooking, soft beds, old friends, and family. It will be hard to say goodbye to everyone, especially my sister who I did not have the pleasure of seeing often due to her own travel plans that took her away to Berlin. Also, I will have to say a temporary farewell to my old puppies and the fish I have had since 8th grade. And obviously my parents… But, I will see them again, come December.
Now that I have finished this post, there are 2 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes, and 13 seconds before that flight, and I am inching ever closer to all the adventures that the future holds. I only hope I have time to do that last load of laundry, to go to that last friend hang out, and to perhaps fit in some Japanese food before I launch myself out past the San Francisco Bay and head east for the Winter.
