It was ten years ago in September that I moved away from my life-long
home for the first time ever. Where did I go? Why, to London of course! No, I’m
not some English country girl, looking to make my mark on my country’s capital.
Rather, I’m a mountain girl from the far off Wild West looking to find myself
in a world where I often feel more at home among British culture and history than
my native culture and land. This was of course long before the Downton Abbey
craze, and possibly before The Office even made its trek over the ocean. Lately, I can’t help but to think about my
first time out on my own, without the safety net of family and familiar surroundings.
It was a time of wonder and adventure. It was when I first started this blog to
record all my near-daily discoveries. About myself, about the world outside all
that I’d grown up with. It was the best of times.
I also can’t help but think
lately about all that has changed since then… I’m no longer traveling or
exploring anything. I ended up back in Colorado, after another long stint in
the UK. In some ways, I feel like nothing has changed. That all those years of
traveling and adventuring were not my “real life” and now I’m back to where I
started. But I am at least wise enough to know that’s not true. I have changed,
in many ways for the better and some not so much. I hate that I’m more cautious
and cynical now. (As cynical as anyone with an Aquarius sun sign can be.) I
hate that I’m not out in the world, visiting new lands and learning about new
cultures. On the other hand, I have learned that it’s much easier and sometimes
more fun to travel when you have money then when you don’t. I like all the
comforts I’ve built up for myself. I love my non-beater car and adore my cat
companion. I love living alone and being able to do whatever I want when I
want.
Although I’m not the fresh-faced
youth ready to take on the world now, I’m still not some old wizened crone (no
matter how much of a “crazy cat lady” I may seem). I don’t want to hang up my
adventurer’s hat and call it quits after only scratching the surface of what is
out there to be learned and discovered. (And I’m not talking about new lands
that no human foot has touched, that’s obviously not possibly these days,
unless I go to another planet and I’m definitely no astronaut). I’m talking
about my own self-discovery through the lens of a world much bigger than my
small corner of metro Denver suburb. My current journey may be less grand than
trapesing across another continent, but it is no less important. Therefore, I
declare that the blog “The Next Great Adventure” is back in business after a
much too-long sojourn. May I find adventures in my own backyard and discover
what I could not while abroad. I can’t guarantee I’ll write often, but I’ll try
to write well when I do and I hope that whoever will read this enjoys the ride.
Let the
adventures begin!!
