Here, There, and Back Again

It feels like yesterday I was seeking out what I wanted to pursue after I graduated high school. The feeling of having the world at my fingertips sent an electrical buzz through my veins.  

Where would I go and what would I do? The two questions so commonplace you could almost shrug it off; yet, at the same time, the same two questions are filled with so much possibility and unpredictability.  

In those fleeting moments… I didn’t quite know. 

Would I fill a backpack with personal belongings, join Worldpackers or Workaway and set off to see the beauties of the world, or pick a college and obtain a degree? 

As a 21-year-old looking back at my 17-year-old self, it seems to me that I and many others often take a simple route. In settlement of what is expected and most commonplace, we may sign our life away to a 4-year degree and 100,000 dollars of debt for nothing that seems majorly inspirational or thrill-seeking. 

Then, once finished—and often unhappy with the degree hanging on the wall, we sign the rest of our lives away to a job.  

While that time will come for me, sooner than later, I find myself back in the same position I was in 4 years ago. Once again, standing at a fork, only this time the questions look a little different. 

Where will I go? What job will I pursue? How much money will I make? Will I like my job?  

Growing up, my parents shared many memories from “the best time of our lives,” highlighting their travels and adventures that intertwined them with their 20s.  

Their stories often brought smiles and laughter to the dinner table and always left me yearning for adventures like theirs.  

While my path is not linear to my parents, I often question if I have lived a life to its fullest potential. There are still so many things I want to pursue, and places I want to see- but have I wasted it all away to get a degree?  

Although I have no idea what the next 4 years of my life will look like, I have realized 2 things. I am not bonded to a life behind a desk or computer screen and there is still so much more of my life to live, places to explore, and things to try. 

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