I have always dreamt of travelling the world.
As a kid, I had my dream jobs—baker, teacher, photographer—but anytime I was asked about it, no matter which job I had picked at the time, I always tacked on “to be rich and travel the world” at the end of my reply.
The job never really mattered. Even now, while in school for my dream career, a place I couldn’t be happier to be, it still doesn’t matter as much to me.
Something about hopping on a plane and going anywhere and everywhere has always been the thought clouding the rest.
I love exploring things. As a kid, I was always outside, finding a new trail to go down, and the effects of age didn’t change that.
I still love being outside, and I still love exploring. My grandma owns a farm, and just off the property is a creek; to this day, I still go looking through every nook and cranny of it. The thrill of finding something new, even when I’m in a spot I’ve been to hundreds of times, is enthralling.
That’s why this summer is going to be my perfect summer.
I have been granted the opportunity to study abroad, something my mom has told me I should do for as long as I can remember. She knew, no matter where I ended up in life, I would see the world.
There was, and is, no question about it. I am going to see the world, and it starts with the Oxford Program.
Six weeks abroad, only two days a week of class, and every weekend a chance to see a new place outside the encroaching walls of my life.
My notes app holds a never-ending agenda of cities, big and small, restaurants, museums, everything I wish I could see and do but don’t have enough time for (during this trip). Packing so much to do in such little time is my specialty, but I’m being realistic here; it’s going to take years to get to it all. But I know I’m going to someday.
I want to make the most of this experience, to curate it to perfection. That’s the hardest part: I’ve finally gotten what I’ve always wanted, and yet the path ahead is still split into so many roads, and I want to go down every single one. Part of me, honestly, doesn’t think I’ll return at the end of the trip, lost within the endless forking roads.
I mean, why would I come back, though?
That never-ending list holds me captive, wrapped in its lace web as a prisoner who saw the trap yet flew straight in anyway. New people, cultures, trails, buildings, landmarks, food, art, it just goes on.
There is so much to see and to learn that the simple open road I have access to now isn’t enough to capture it all.
Only the air can take me to what I crave, and my heart is already halfway there.
But don’t worry, just because I’ll be gone doesn’t mean you won’t hear from me. I’ll make sure to send a postcard from every country.