Ever since I left Europe I have been jonesing to go back. However, the same thing happened to me when I left Thailand for Italy. I couldn’t tell people enough times that they must go tube the Vang Vieng, climb around on Angkor Wat, or scale Adam’s Peak. When I look at my conversations now, I still include those stories, but I also mention jet skiing in Croatia, tasting gelato in Italy, and eating kebabs at 5am anywhere you can find them. When I arrived in Italy, I announced to everyone that it was my goal to be living and working in Thailand within 5 years. Now I find myself seriously considering a semi-permanent move to Italy.
One of my friends decided that I have no idea what I want in life and basically did everything but tell me to settle down and get a job. He implied it though. I appreciated his advice, and considered it for a week. Unfortunately, it just didn’t sound like me. I don’t mind working; in fact, I love to be busy and sometimes overbook myself with part time jobs. But the idea of re-entering the corporate world horrifies me. I think it is magnified by the fact that I know how people earn a living in other parts of the world. I spent months upon months listening in fascination to Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, Austrians, Norwegians, French, etc, etc tell me about their holidays and/or year-off traveling adventures. After six months I was still stupefied when I met someone on a three week holiday and then found out that they still had more vacation days to use when they got home! These people had upwards of a five weeks off! I had 5 days at my last company and worked most weekends. No wonder I was completely stressed. Europeans, Aussies, and Kiwis have it figured out – take a holiday! A real one!
Most you probably wonder why I am stressed out these days since I do not have a full time job to complain about, nor a zillion bills to pay. But I am stressed out. A lot. I have the following questions to answer: Where do I want to live? What do I want to do? How can I visit my girlfriends because I miss them?!
Here are the answers I came up with…they are not very specific, but they are the best I can do for this moment in my life:
- I want to live in Europe, preferably in Italy. I already have the apartment picked out and know where the nearest bar is located. I also know how to get to the train station, which means I can easily get to other cities and the airport so I can visit my friends when I need to! I also like my roommate there :)
- I want to be either a travel writer, or a tour guide for a travel company. I love writing and I love traveling, therefore the jobs make perfect sense and would keep me happy! Ideally, I’d like to travel to places I haven’t been before – but at the moment I would just like to be back in a country where I wonder what people are saying and what type of food they are selling on the street corner.
- I will try to see as many of my friends as possible before leaving for Europe again. Then I will force them all to come and visit me in wonderful Italy! Or in any other European country they want to visit because I can easily meet them there – yay for the European train system!
For those of you who do not feel an intense need to travel, you may not understand that I need a fix. I am completely addicted. If you have never traveled to another country (Canada does not count unless you live in Europe…in which case, why did you visit Canada?!) then give it a try soon! It may seem scary, but there are so many ways to do it that you can find a way that works for you and have fun! I just love the excitement of a new country – tasting new foods, trying out foreign words, and losing myself in the street scenes of ordinary life. I just cannot give that up right now. I have to go back.
A view from our apartment in Sacile, Italy
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