Wanderlust

Sometimes I wonder why my desire to travel is so strong. Maybe it’s because as a child I moved around a lot. The breakdown:

Number of schools I attended K-12: 9
Number of homes I lived in from birth to high school graduation: 10
Number of homes I lived in through college: 5
Number of homes I lived in Nashville: 4

I think the excitement of packing your belonging, and moving to a new place has been instilled inside me all my life. I find it refreshing to purge my possessions and start over. I actually love garage sales and getting rid of “junk”. This is quite a big step from the little girl who my mom called “a pack-rat”. Somewhere along the way I began to let go of things that weren’t important or things that could be replaced.

I remember my first big adventure…I was 16 and the drama club I was in had the opportunity to go to Spain. I remember the excitement bubbling up inside. There was no way I was NOT going! I sold peanut brittle, I washed cars, I did everything I could to step foot on another country.

Spain 2001

After that I was hooked! The following year I took a trip to France with the French Club and fell in love! There is just something positively magical about Paris. I remember after I got back to the U.S. everyone said “That was a once in a lifetime trip”. I knew for me it was not. It was just the beginning. I was changed. My heart had experienced something new, and it wasn’t going to stop pursuing it now.

Paris 2002

If I stay in one place too long, my heart starts to ache. It tells me “It’s time for a new adventure. It’s time to go.”

You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say. ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist