Airport Reflections

It’s my last day in Europe, for now. I say for now because I know I’ll be back, but all the same, the last day of an extended trip always feels kind of strange. Its strange because you know what you’re going home to. After three and a half months of waking up and never being too positive what the day might bring its a bittersweet feeling to be going home. I am excited to be with my family, celebrate the holidays, reunite with friends, but I will miss the thrill I get from being in another country, meeting someone new everyday, and having a sense of independence that only comes while traveling. This isn’t to say things won’t be different at home, of course things will be different. I also don’t believe I can’t find adventure and meet new people at home, but anyone who travels will understand. They will understand that hostel life can suck, but it can also be incredibly entertaining and enlightening, they will understand the fright and excitement of not being sure where you’ll be tomorrow or how you’ll get there, and they will understand the feeling one gets while traveling that makes one feel more alive than ever before.
As I sit here in the Dublin airport and think about the past three months a whole range of emotions fills me. Traveling is always a challenge that isn’t always glamorous. There are points you want to throw down your backpack, the map, call a cab to bring you to the airport and crawl home, but you don’t. You keep that pack on, you struggle to find your way, and you make it to that next hostel. Then you meet people and you start to put your “issues” in perspective again and remember how lucky you are that you have been given the opportunity to travel and see the world and you are so thankful that you are able to get lost in a foreign city, struggle to find your hostel, and have to carry a 45 liter pack around with you, because you know not everyone is that fortunate. Travel is such a wonderful thing and at the end of every trip I take I think about how much travel has made me who I am today. It has made me a more conscious, independent, and outgoing individual. Without travel I am not sure where I would be or what I would be doing, but I also know that I never want to find out. I love the person I have become through my travels and I cannot wait for my next adventure.

 

The past 3 and a half months has been filled with adventure, challenge, and new life long friends that will never be forgotten…

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My name is Kelly and I am a recent graduate of SUNY New Paltz. I have my bachelors in Secondary Education and English and during my time as an undergrad I spent a semester studying abroad in Prague, Czech Republic. I enjoyed living in Prague so I have decided to come back for a little while. I will be living in Prague for the next 3 and half months during which I will be taking a TEFL course (teaching english as a foreign language) to prepare myself for my next adventure. Upon graduating New Paltz I received a Fulbright scholarship to teach in Malaysia for 2015. When I leave Prague in December I will be headed to Malaysia and will be a teaching assistant in an English class. I have been traveling to other countries since I was 15 years old and I guess you could say I've been bit hard by the travel bug. =)

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