I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

So, it’s official. I am leaving Reno on June 11^th, and I don’t know when I’ll be back again. I am overcome with excitement! It is becoming so real. I have put a lot of thought, planning and research into this, and now it’s finally coming into fruition. I will be heading to Fort Lauderdale to take a required STCW 95 course. After I have completed the course I will begin looking for work. There really is no telling where I will end up. Ken is currently on a yacht that is traveling the globe. I could end up on a yacht working in Greece, Spain, the Caribbean. Who knows! Wherever it is that I end up, I am incredibly eager to begin this new journey.

I am taking a little detour on my way to Fort Lauderdale to visit my good friend Sonny in Chicago. I have never been to the Windy City and so now is the perfect opportunity for me to go. We have an exciting few days planned that will encompass a Cubs game, Wicked, Museums and a whole lot of shenanigans! Whenever Sonny and I are together good times are had (see photos below, he he). I am so excited to finally be able to go and visit him!

Sonny & I at the Whispering Vine in Reno

Me in the infamous Elvis Shades

Sonny in the infamous Elvis Shades (I brought them to Cabo!)

Sonny & I in Vegas

My inspiration...

One of my best friends Ken has been traveling the world for the past couple of years while working on Mega Yachts. He is the one that has really inspired me to follow my dream of traveling the globe. He was pursuing a career and had bought a condo, and then one day decided that he wanted to travel the world. So he packed his things and left. I didn’t understand how he could just take off from all of his responsibilities so easily. He made the decision, and left. Deep down I envied his fervent desire, and the fact that he wasn’t going to let anything hold him back from following his dream.

Ken has pushed me for the past couple of years to follow in his footsteps. I desperately wanted to go, but at the same time I was terrified. I came close to leaving around December of last year, but something was still holding me back. After everything I had been through in Las Vegas, I wanted to spend some time with my friends and family in Reno. I needed to be around them to help me recover from all of the anguish I had recently encountered. I don’t regret my decision to stay in Reno for the time I did. Being close to my family and friends has helped me to grow and learn from my past. I am a stronger person for everything that I have been through, and I believe that is why I now have the confidence to finally pursue my dream of traveling.

Thank you Ken for encouraging me to follow my dreams!

A freeing feeling...

There are so many things that I need to accomplish before I depart. I really have no idea how long I will be gone. I hope to be gone for at least a year. I am putting everything I own in storage, getting rid of my car, and wrapping up any other loose ends I have.

While preparing for my travels I have undergone some changes. I have done a lot of research to try to mentally prepare myself for everything I am about to experience in the upcoming months. I don’t believe that there is anything that can truly prepare anyone for what it is like to travel, to experience new places and cultures. It’s a sensory overload with all of the new sights, smells, sounds, and tastes. While traveling around Spain and Italy there were times that I wanted a few minutes to sit down in my room and decompress. The language barrier can be overwhelming at times. It’s not only difficult trying to communicate with the locals, but trying to navigate maps, subways and streets in a foreign language can be trying as well. I remember watching the movie Lost in Translation before I had ever set foot out of the US. I didn’t get it. I thought it was a strange movie that really didn’t have much of a plot. After returning from my trip to Spain and Italy I had watched the movie again and I got it. It made sense. It’s difficult to fully describe, it’s more or less an understanding that you can only achieve through international travels.

One of the bigger changes I have been undergoing in preparation for my travels is best described as taking on a sense of minimalism. While living in Vegas I changed in a lot of ways. In some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. People in Vegas are so consumed with money, with having a big beautiful home, an expensive car, and all of the other materialistic obsessions that are out there. It’s like everyone in Vegas is fixated on keeping up with the Jones’ and you can’t help but get wrapped up in it. Moving back to Reno was a good decision on my part because Reno helped to ground me again. I began to realize that none of those things are really of any importance. Now that I am preparing to travel, I am realizing that I can’t bring all of my things with me. I will only want to carry with me the bare essentials, and that is all. So all of the things that once seemed so important to me, well, just aren’t any more. They have become a burden. Now I have to figure out what to do with all of my things. I will keep the things that are truly important, or things I will need when I am finished with my travels. As for everything else, I am going to get rid of it. I have fully transformed from someone who wanted the best of everything, to just wanting the necessities. It’s an amazing and freeing feeling.

A new direction...

I have been through so much in the past 10 months of my life. Everything that I knew, had, or was changed in a matter of weeks. I lived in a beautiful home, had a career, and was engaged to get married. One day I woke up to realize that I was not at all happy with the direction my life had taken me. I wanted out. And so I left. I left my fiancé and my beautiful home, I left my career, and I left Las Vegas. There was nothing left for me there.

I decided to head back to Reno, where I was born and raised. I have an amazing support system in Reno between my family and my amazing friends. After everything I had been through in Vegas I decided that moving back to Reno was the best thing for me at that point in my life. So I tried to make it work. I got a job (actually two), and I made the decision to go back to school. I already obtained a degree while living in Vegas, but I have always had an interest in nursing and so I decided to pursue it. I worked hard, but felt an immense emptiness, or a void. I have never really been an unhappy person, or one to be depressed, but I had felt as though I had begun to fall into a serious funk and I was unsure on how to bring myself back out. I began to go through the motions each day. I was becoming more unhappy with my situation and something needed to change.

I have always had a desire to travel the world. Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with exotic cultures and far off places. My Dad has pushed me to travel the world for years, but I have always been uneasy about taking off on my own and chasing my dream. I was afraid of the unknown, of what could possibly happen to me while traveling on my own. I was torn between my strong desire to see the world, and my apprehensions of what may happen while carrying out my dream. Until now. I don’t really know exactly what happened, but all of my apprehensions about traveling have dissipated.

And so in a very short time my journeys will begin. I am in the process of wrapping up all of my loose ends in Reno so I can set off on my travels around the globe. I am so completely excited to begin this new chapter of my life.