Oh, The Places We've Gone!

Around this time of year most minds are filled with thoughts of what the next twelve months will bring. However, right now I can't help but look back on the stressful, terrifying, and yet ridiculously exciting day that was January 6th, 2012. Here's what was going on in my life that day:

1. I was still recovering from the stomach flu.
2. I had just been tested for strep throat (it turned out to be just a bad cold, though).
3. I had recently graduated from months filled with a wheel chair, a walker, and finally crutches, but I still had a limp that was so bad I leaned at about a 30 degree angle every time I stepped on my right leg, which was healing from a femur fracture.
4. I had a stomach ulcer that occasionally caused me severe pain after I ate.
5. I was staring at piles of clothes, and a suitcase in which I was sure they would never fit.
6. I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to print my boarding pass that I would need the next day to fly to Madrid, Spain where I would be living for the next four months.

Basically, I was a wreck.

I've never been one to fear being away from home, or quiver in the face of new adventures. In fact, until January 6th, the day before I was set to leave, I had been counting every minute leading up to the trip with great excitement. The thought of spending multiple months with an entire ocean separating me from everything familiar to me was not in the least scary, but rather the most exhilarating thing I could possibly think of. Then, the nerves hit. I was suddenly overwhelmed, but luckily I only stayed that way until my plane took off the next morning.

Side note: I love airplanes. In fact, I was seriously considering a career as a pilot until my senior year in high school.

Back track: After finally fitting everything into one suitcase that miraculously was within the weight limits prescribed by British Airways, checking about 9128374 times that I had my passport, watching my dad check about 983475 more times that I had my passport, and dressing in an airport security-efficient outfit complete with no belt and slip-on shoes,  I was off to the O'Hare airport on the morning of January 7th. I hobbled my way through the security line while watching my mom cry, terrified that she would all of a sudden decide I couldn't go, and found my gate. Finally, it was time to board, and eventually take-off. As the engines of the plane started up I remember vividly this realization that there was no going back now. I also remember this to be the most relaxing feeling I have ever felt. Perhaps it should have been scary, or anxiety-provoking, but the truth is I have never felt more calm. Beginning in that very moment, the world was quite literally at my finger tips.

In the words of Dr. Seuss, this is exactly how I felt:

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

Today, January 6, 2013, I am feeling stress-free and healthy, my stomach has healed, and on a typical day my right leg feels no different than my left. In many ways I am much better off than I was a year ago. However, if given the choice I would, in a heart-beat, turn the clock back so I could do it all again. I remember the entire semester I was in Spain feeling like I would be ready to go home when that time came, but on May 10th that certainly wasn't the case. 

To all of my friends about to embark on the same journey I did a year ago, 

“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”

It will be the time of your lives. That, I can guarantee.