I believe I have built up this traveler, adventurer reputation in my small town and amongst my friends and family. More than once, someone has told me “If anyone were to go on exchange twice it would be you.” My friends keep telling me how crazy it is that just in April I was still figuring out the works of it all, trying to save enough money before I received my scholarship and deciding what country to go live in.
Some people see exchange as a pause or an escape from my life, they ask me “So after the year you’re coming back for college, right?” (Which is what I would be asking too). But I think the disconnect between some people from my small town and I is that doing something like exchange is not a break from life, it is an enrichment of life. I’m gaining a family, a dog, an education, friends, a type of food to learn how to digest, a bunch of new holidays to celebrate, etc. That I will keep for the rest of my life. It is an increase of life rather than a withholding. One of the most fruitful things I learned in India was to feel everything 100% and oh boy did I. If I am sad, I want to feel 100% sad, if I am excited, it’s 100% excited. This is something a lot of exchange students experience and is, in my opinion, why exchange is so addicting. To feel 100% anything is to feel 100% full of life. I can picture my old meditation teacher saying “whatever you do put your 100%”.
I want to share my perspective on this because frankly, I want people to understand how awesome this is going to be. I’m so excited to feel rich in culture and experience again and I can’t wait to see what lessons Uruguay has to teach me. I hope that this makes some people feel better about sending me off for a year and I hope it inspires anyone reading this to travel, whether that’s by plane, foot, books, or something else.
To travel is to grow rich in experience and full of life.
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Nice👍😁