1 suitcase, 4 jobs, 9 countries, 28 blog posts, and 360 days of adventure later, I’m coming home. I’m extremely grateful and privileged to have spent the last year investing in myself and in my future. I had the freedom to make decisions based on what would further my career development, personal development, and happiness. I learned a ton about myself, but before I dive into that, I want to start by saying that while this was my journey, it was certainly not possible alone.
First and foremost, I know all these life and career decisions haven’t been easy on my family. I’m far away and in an unknown world. The path I’m headed down is untraditional, a bit riskier, changes often, and is hard to describe. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be here without your support and love. Thank you for being patient and giving me the space I needed to have this journey, while also being there for me, providing a source of stability when everything around me was changing, and reminding me that even though you miss me, you’re excited to hear about my experiences. Natasha, thank you for being my rock regardless of the miles between us. We’re in this life together, no one understands me better, and you are my role model. I miss you constantly, but I’m pretty proud of us and how our relationship grew stronger over this year. To all my friends from back home, who stuck with me through the distance, thank you for every word of support and encouragement. Even without being in touch all the time, each random email or message always brought a smile to my face and reminded me of memories together. Especially when I was feeling lonely, it was nice to be reassured that our relationships hadn’t been forgotten. And finally to all my new friends and family, thank you for giving me laughter, joy, and love, even if we were in each other’s lives only briefly. I learned from you, I was inspired by you, and you gave me happiness on a daily basis.
Every day was a learning experience, lessons small and large. A comprehensive list of these learnings would be exhausting to write and to read, plus I’ve already shared many things along the way. So I’ve tried to highlight some of the most important takeaways.
- It’s an incredible feeling to be in control of your life. The amount of choice we have for what our lives can look like is vast, but it comes down to realizing this and acting on it. (Hard as it was at first, I can’t imagine living any other way.)
- Say yes, be flexible, embrace spontaneity. Probably every job and every adventure I’ve had can be attributed to this philosophy.
- Listen to yourself. I’ve been happiest when I found a balance between exploring beyond my comfort zone while also remembering how to feel at home.
Of course, these are all “life philosophy” lessons. There were also financial lessons- how to save on the daily expenses and dedicate the vast majority of my spendings to flight tickets. There were cultural lessons- how to work and live when communication is limited and difficult. There were health lessons- how to maintain discipline and regimes even when access to choice and resources are restricted. There were funny lessons- how to play charades with street vendors and taxi drivers. And there were serious lessons- how to deal with fear or loss on my own. The list goes on, covering different emotions and aspects of life, but the end result, unsurprisingly, is I learned a lot.
Looking back to over a year ago when I began thinking of embarking on a journey like this, I never dreamed it would turn out like this. I started with a plan for the first 8 weeks, but from then onwards I’ve been figuring things out one step at a time. Sometimes it was strange to realize I didn’t know what my life would look like just weeks ahead, but it was also a hugely freeing sensation. This trip gave me confidence and opened my eyes to options I didn’t know existed. I’ve always been independent, but the level of independence and fearlessness that I found within myself over the past year continued to surprise me. And I can’t get over how empowering it is to feel like I’m both building dreams as well as living a path towards realizing them. Without hesitation, this year redefined me and I can’t say enough positive things about the experience. That being said, I also don’t want to say that every day was perfect. I can’t count the number of goodbyes I said, and there were times where it weighed on me a lot. I missed friends and family. Sometimes it felt like I was truly light-years away, and it’s particularly lonely to be sick in bed alone. I kept a lot of emotions to myself and sometimes it was hard to get out of my own head. These low moments were the litmus test, but at the end of it all, I still knew I was on the right track.
I found myself pretty regularly in a state of disbelief that the past year even happened. But I think the most surreal part is that it marks the beginning of a life I can live. It was not just a great vacation that I have to move past. I know that my adventures will continue, and for now, I can focus on everything exciting about coming home. I’m looking forward to home-cooked food, easier communication, not hearing kids shouting “toubabou” (white person) as I walk around, lots of laughter and storytelling, and of course the love and hugs from my most favorite people in the world. I’m expecting a fair bit of reverse culture shock but I will enjoy the marvels of breathing cleaner air, running outdoors again, and eating all the foods I’ve been missing. I’m also expecting it may not be easy to try and convey a year’s worth of experiences in just a few minutes. I’m going to try my best, but be forewarned, I don’t yet know how to meaningfully respond to questions like “how was it? Tell me about your experience!” For those of you who have been following along, I really loved sharing my experiences with you, piece by piece over the past year. Thank you for continuing to be curious.
Maybe you’re hoping for a conclusion, wrapped in a bow and all sorted out. But I knew from the beginning that this year wasn’t about finding absolute answers. It wasn’t about exploring and then returning to a beaten path. It was about seeing the world and my place within it from a new perspective. It was about finding the confidence to decidedly not need a beaten path. I can’t say I know exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don’t suddenly have a 5-year plan. But I can say that I’m really looking forward to what comes next. I’m excited to continue working in countries and with organizations that inspire me. I’m thrilled to be working on a start-up idea with my best friend. I’m eager to continue down a path that makes me proud of the person I’m becoming. And I’m grateful for my current state of optimism, inspiration, and passion.
Here are a few photos from some final moments!
The first row shows Karen’s and my favorite coffee bar, maybe the only local joint not serving instant coffee and Leschat, the Ivorian running the shop became a friend. On the right is a photo of the full Sangare family just before we spent the day playing in the Parc National, enjoying a picnic, and generally spending the day away from the noise and pollution of Bamako.
In the next row, the youngest of the Sangare family stands at the top of a slide, and the group photo is from a final dinner with everyone in our house. We had quite a feast as my final send off.
The pair of shoes were $2 Myanmar traditional flip flops that I wore every day for 10 months and lasted me over 600 miles of walking. They carried me far but I had to let them go. And the photo on the left is from a whirlwind day trip in Casablanca in between leaving Mali and returning to the US.
