“So..did you get homesick?” My Mom posed this question this morning over breakfast and coffee. I’ve been home for about five days now and yet it still feels like we haven’t talked about my trip enough. She’s sure there are pictures that I haven’t shown her and stories that I haven’t told her. I took a moment to think about her question. I’m guessing she thinks she already knows the answer. I am prone to homesickness. I realized though that I never really got homesick. This trip was such a big adventure for me that I don’t think I really focused on anything but that. Did I get scared once or twice? Yes. On the flight to Romania I definitely felt afraid because this was so unlike anything I had ever done. I traveled afterwards without my classmates and Professor and at first that seemed terrifying, too. I also knew that eventually I would get home and my family would be waiting to relive my adventure with me which probably kept me from getting too homesick.

There have been a few surprising parts of being home. Even though I was only gone for three weeks, I feel like the rest of my summer cannot possibly live up to the adventure I just had. I keep feeling a little sad and thinking, “Well, what do I do now?”. At first I didn’t know how to process that but now I’ve decided to choose adventure for the rest of my life. I have tasted travel and the unknown only to find that just a taste is not enough. I do not yet know what I want to do when I graduate but now I at least know that it will be like this trip. An adventure. Something I haven’t faced yet, something that is maybe a little scary at first. Stepping out of my comfort zone has been a good thing and can only make me a better person so instead of being sad that my trip is over, I am going to focus on making my present and future as adventurous as possible. And yes, that will hopefully include another trip to Romania. (: