The funny thing is, all of my memories of the adventure--from Finland to Sweden to Britain to Poland and back again--are still so vivid I feel as though I was just there yesterday. I bet you could plop me down in the middle of London right now and I could still navigate my way around the city like I had lived there for a hundred years.
Unfortunately, no "plopping" across the pond is taking place this summer. My travels have kept me in the continental United States and mostly within the confines of the Mississippi border. But I guess we can't be having adventures everyday, or else they wouldn't be adventures, would they?
In commemoration of my one year since trekking through Europe with a backpack, passport, and big, stupid grin on my face, I want to share a journal entry with all of you that I ran across in a pink, spiral notebook. It was written on August 3rd, 2012, and it goes like this:
Dear Journal,
I'm back in America now.
But this morning I was overfilled with joy as I walked down the Mississippi road with my ever-faithful pooch Penny and thought to myself: these feet have been on European soil!
They've touched the shores of Finland, the waters of the Baltic Sea, the cobblestone streets of Sweden, the busy roads of London, the soft grass of Scotland, the wild fields of Poland, the bus-stop soil in Germany (because that does count, of course)...they've been all over! I have been to so many incredible places, seen so many marvelous sights, met so many absolutely wonderful people...my life will truly never be the same. I've felt the wind of the world now! The breeze has blown across my face in five different countries.
And the people I've talked to and met...the British men sitting on either side of me in the plane on my sky-voyage across the Atlantic, the kind-hearted British man who shared his over-prices salmon bagel with me in the plane headed towards Helsinki, and the young girl my age on the way to Amsterdam who was my comrade-in-confusion at the Manchester airport. I met all of Sanni's fun, crazy, friends, the young couple sitting by me in the plane from Helsinki to London that matched an American man with a Finnish woman, Jolene, Tanja, everyone in my class; the woman Anna on the train from Edinburgh who gave me and orange and 5 pounds when she knew I'd be in the Heathrow Airport all night by myself, and Amanda who sat in the cafe with me as we both struggled to stay awake in Heathrow and who left telling me: "you have a beautiful soul." Most importantly of all I met dear Pawel, Ola and Bartek, Monika, Maria, Jola, Klaus, Martyna, and much of my Polish family. Then at the end, I met the Navy guys who lifted us down from the Nelson statue in Trafalgar Square so we didn't have to jump down in dresses, Karen who had just finished up a year as an Au Pair and who was sitting by me on the plane as we flew out of London, then Gabby who I met on the very last leg of the trip as we were both about to return home safely into the arms of our families.
I've booked all of my own planes, trains, and hotels. I've hauled luggage through the Tube station, on and off of busses, through city streets and countless airports and still have the callouses to prove it. I carried every possesion I had with me for 10 days on my back through Scotland and Poland. I've walked around London on my own and knew my way to and through every place. I've crossed monumental bridges and climbed landmark mountains. And by golly, if I can get on a train that I'm not sure is going in the right direction in a country where nobody speaks my language and make it out just fine...I believe I can do just about anything!
I've stood on the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square singing about America as the Olympic opening ceremonies lit up just a few miles away. I've ridden the London Eye at sunset. I've explored castles, seen famous plays, gotten lost in beautiful parks, run through the grass of the idyllic English countryside, read under a tree in Regent Gardents, stood in the Enchanted Place in the Hundred Acre Woods, found hidden rooms and passages of a palace in Scotland, immersed myself in other cultures and languages...
And best of all, I've discovered what's just around the next corner each and every time I wanted to. And not once was I disappointed by what I saw.
Without a doubt, this really was the trip of a lifetime.
But it won't be the last. At least not if I have anything to say about it.
One day I'll be back across the ocean; I can't say exactly where yet, or even if my travels will take me back to Europe.
But these feet won't stop moving and exploring for anything.
I've just got a case of wanderlust that won't ever die.
