A home away from home, away I went

First off, welcome to spring. I’m sitting on my balcony, in a skirt and a tank top, sipping on coffee with Jameson in it. As my brother says, “you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.” I just got back from a quick run at the lake (1 mile walk there, 2 mile run, and 1 mile walk home.) Needless to say, running again is taking a lot out of me. I just ate a delicious veggie omelet, and I’m starving.

I haven’t written much about life recently, since I’ve been writing a lot about my travels. I have a whole set of short blog posts ready to copy and paste, but I think there is something more important I need to write about. Mostly for me, but also for the people I love. I haven’t been honest with most of you, because my selfishness makes me feel like a terrible horrible human being.

I admit it. I’m extremely selfish. For so many reasons, but mainly because I won’t give up my dreams for anyone, even those I love the most. When I came to Tirana the dream was to travel around Europe for 2 years and head home, to start my “real life.” But plans change, and maybe it’s stupid that we make long-term plans at all. I’ll give you a million bucks if you are someone who has followed a basic 5-year plan, without changing anything. The problem is I have to find a way to tell those I love about my plans, because I hate leaving them in the dark. And though I’ve hinted at these plans I haven’t told very many people about them. So here goes, my 5 year plan:

Year 1: Teach my ass off in Jakarta. Learn Indonesian enough to have some conversations, meet some wonderful friends, travel around Southeast Asia as much as possible. Adjust to the culture and find some thing I love to eat, drink, and do. Basically find my niche. And send home as much as possible to pay off student loans with.

Year 2: Grow as a teacher in Indonesia. 2 years in a row at the same school will be a great benefit to my professional growth, and I’m looking pretty forward to not having to move for a few years. Immerse myself in the culture. Try more new things, and finish traveling around Southeast Asia. Maybe go home for Christmas to see my wonderful family. Pay off more loans.

Year 3-4: Dubai. Sign a 2 year contract and make a ton of money. Put it all towards loans, and save some of it for a few big trips. I need an African Safari in my life, and I’d like to see a bit of the Middle East. This was never officially on my list, but let’s be realistic, neither was the Balkans. Hopefully at the end of this I’ll have my loans either paid off, or be pretty damn close.

Year 5: Teach in South America. I’m dying to go here! The issue is that as a teacher you usually only make a local teacher’s salary plus accommodation. With my loans as high as they are this is just not an option, but if I’ve spent 4 years teaching and paying as much as I can on them I think it will be doable. Travel all over South America!

Then it will be time to go home. For real. I can get settled into a real job in MN, and hopefully continue to save money for more traveling. I still have almost all of the US left and I need to spend another month in Western Europe, and another month in the Balkans.

So there you have it. I came to Albania with the intention of traveling around Europe and I’m leaving it with the intention of traveling the world. My original plan didn’t work out and I doubt this one will either.

And to my dear, dear mother and family, and friends, if you get to the end of reading this and are sobbing, know that I love you so very much. I’ll try to make it home at least once a year, and I’ll be there for you through everything as best as my selfish-self can. And after typing that I’m sobbing, because that doesn’t seem like enough after all you’ve given me. So I’ll give you a song as well. Thanks for being my solid ground.