Where I Went! :)

I haven't written text for this blog in quite some time. That's because gradually, as the months of travel wore on, the interesting part of the journey--at least for me--became what was happening to me internally, not the travelogue part. Four and a half months on the road living out of a backpack changed my values, my outlook on other cultures, other individuals, and myself, my relationship with possessions, my self-reliance, my independence, my courage, my sense of adventure, my dreams, my tastes, and so many other things.

And for someone as private and introverted as I normally am, it's difficult to recognize and absorb those changes honestly while also trying to explain them in a venue for public consumption. Furthermore, when I write about something, I can't help but analyze it, assess it, and make conclusions about it--and it was such a fluid time, so full of impressions and subtle (and some not-so-subtle) changes in my environment and myself, that the last thing that appealed to me was rushing to assess and evaluate what I was doing and feeling. I realized that I needed to experience things, let them happen, and allow impressions to emerge in the fullness of their own time--not make neat conclusions at the end of each day.

So for all of these reasons, a couple of months ago, I essentially stopped writing for public consumption and shifted to posting photographs only on this blog.

I returned to the United States this past Saturday, and now I'm not only feeling ready to try to make sense of all of these changes, I feel like I must consciously focus on identifying and evaluating these things so that I can be sure to preserve the changes in habit and mindset that actually matter to me.

In the coming days, weeks, and months I'll spend time adding more content and photographs and details and explanations of the things that I posted during my time on the road. I'd like to leave this as a record for myself and my friends and family, and maybe it can be a resource to other people plotting similar adventures.

This trip represented much more to me than a four and a half month vacation. It was a pivotal life transition. It woke me out of numbness. It opened up a process of discovery of the world and other people and cultures and myself, and I will be changed forever because of it. I'd love to think of this blog being an idea bank or a resource or even just a fun diversion for other people who are either contemplating doing something similar or who enjoy the thought of it, even if they aren't inclined or able to try it themselves. As always, I warmly welcome comments and questions. Stay in touch!

Love,
Peg