the beginning: all it took was a restless soul

for the past couple of weeks, i've been (procrastinating) doing everything for this trip. it hasn't really seemed real, mostly because i really have no idea what i'm doing here. i've only been to vienna once before, and it was for less than a week. i couldn't tell you why i picked it, besides the fact that my family is living in the country next door. i don't speak german, i haven't spent a winter in the snow since i was 5 years old, and i don't think people in austria even like americans.

i didn't start packing until the morning of the day i was leaving and my visa made it to vegas just as i was heading out...next thing i knew my plane had landed in prague. it wasn't until i was walking through the city that i had to stop and wonder what on earth i was doing. it was a little less than 24 hours ago that i was still in vegas, content in jeans and a peacoat. i knew people said it was going to be cold here, and they didn't mean vegas cold. they meant snow jacket-leggings under my jeans-several pairs of socks-leather gloves freezing cold.

i've spent the past few days in the czech republic, visiting my grandparents and drinking a lot of tea and convincing my dad that i really don't want a shot of rum with every single cup. i'm still on the pacific time zone, so i've been going to bed at 7 and waking up at 3 or 4. i head to vienna on the 1st, move into my dorm on the 2nd, and see what happens from there.

as i've grown up, i've always thought we have an entire planet at our disposal and we're wasting it if we spend all of our days in one city, state, country, even continent. now i'm finally acting on those thoughts, and while i'm anxious, i'm slowly becoming more confident in my decision to do this. we only have one life, and if we don't push ourselves out of our comfort zone, experience new things, connect with other humans, are we really living? essentially, we are all the same. we're all human, we all laugh, cry, love, hurt. but most importantly, we're all learning. it doesn't have to be life changing, doesn't have to be anything profound. sometimes it's enough to be reminded that we are alive.


travel often, getting lost helps you find yourself.