It's been about a year since I last posted, and it's been one of the busiest years of my life. I got a job immediately after coming home, and worked ridiculous hours at a crazy start up. After three months I left the start up because the crazy got out of control. I immediately got myself another job. I planned a wedding and got married (pics can be seen here). I dealt with some major craziness at my new job and started managing an employee. I helped the cops arrest a peeping tom in my neighborhood. I went to Maine. I went to Tahiti (and surrounding islands.) And it's only been a year.

But a lot gets solidified in your mind in a year. I can say now with complete assurance that travel, and taking a major personal risk (like quitting my job to travel) has had lasting implications on my life. And I can say now that the changes have been good.

For one thing, the feeling of patience and calm I developed has lasted. No, I am still not a patient or calm person, but I am much better at calming myself down in situations that require unnecessary waiting, or dealing with ridiculously slow people. I have become a teeny teeny teeny bit better at laughing at myself. I have been a bit better with directions. I haven't gone on a binge diet once. I can pack light.

I still mostly suck. I'm still a terrible flier, and my anxiety issues haven't completely gone away . . . but I have made progress. There are a lot of times I find myself telling Dan: "And since Europe I feel so blah blah blah, and I can't believe how different I feel about X, Y, Z. . . "

And Dan says: "Oh - so you mean a life changing experience actually changed your life?"

And I say: "Oh. right."

Unfortunately, the more I reflect upon my two months of writing and walking and taking pictures somewhere new, the more I am unsatisfied with anything else. Being out of my life, completely free to think and read and ponder and explore . . . not much tops it. I turn 27 next month, and suddenly it seems like 25-27 happened really, really fast.

And I've been doing a lot of thinking. Like about how travel writing is pretty much the best thing ever. How I would do almost anything to have a job where I was paid to observe, synthesize, and write about the world.

After sharing the pictures of our honeymoon (in French Polynesia) so many friend and family members shared an interest in visiting Tahiti or Bora Bora, and I feel like I have an opportunity to really explain what it was like there. Whether to help people plan their own trip, to convince someone that this trip isn't for them, or to fulfill my own narcissistic need to write about my travels.

I decided to go back into my notebook, and transcribe the thoughts and experiences I had while in the islands. And I decided that as long as I still love to travel, I want to keep this blog active to record what I learn as I go. (South America 2013!)

Because in spite of the impact traveling has already had on me, memories are fleeting, and one of the best gifts I ever gave myself was recording the journey in detail.

And because one day, I hope someone will read this journal, and give me a travel job.