Coming to a Close

November 11, 2010
3:00pm

The following is the final entries that I waited 16 months to publish. I have held onto this journal for so long, telling myself that I ought to just finish my final blog and commence the end to my journey. Part of me did not want it to end. I have thoroughly enjoyed the reflection and creativity in writing this blog, and even though I was not updating it any longer, I still felt like it was current in my mind. It was such an exhilarating experience, that I did not want to move on from it. In a way I felt like, how could I possibly top this experience? I realize that life is a compilation of many experiences. Some seem more extravagant than others, but all equally important. I look forward to many more wonderful and joyful experiences in my life.

The final entries of my summer:

July 26, 2009
7:00am


I am about 15 minutes away from stepping onto the grounds of my last country to finish off my around-the-world summer adventure. I'll admit that I'm beginning to get used to these plane rides. I used to think that a three-hour flight from Kansas City to California was a long time...now a 10-12 hour flight is no big deal. In just a few days I'll be stepping back on a plane to go all the way back home! Before that though, I have three full days to tour Sydney as much as possible. I'm staying with a couchsurfer host for the third time this summer, only this time I will be alone.



I'm not going to lie, I have been awake since 8am Friday morning and I would love to lay down and sleep right now, but there's just no time for that. Wake up Allison, Australia is waiting! I'll sleep in 3 days when I get home! Sleep deprivation is nothing that a good cup of coffee can't fix. Or pure adrenaline for that matter.



I just looked out my window and I can see land! Here I am! IN Australia! I've been informed by my best friend, Meagan, that I need to find a hunky Aussie to bring home. I figure that three days should give me plenty of time to woo someone with my American charm. Maybe even with enough leftover time to find a koala as well. (haha!) It's time to land and I'm ready for my newest adventure!



July 27, 2009



"Love simply loves the other, without wanting them to change for our own benefit - just as Christ loves us."



July 28, 2009

2:15pm



Wow. There are not enough words to describe how beautiful this view is that's all around me right now. Today is my third day in Australia and I decided to get out of the city during my last day, so I took a ferry cruise to Manly Wharf. The ferry ride itself was absolutely gorgeous. It rounded about the East side of the Opera House and traveled thirty minutes to Manly. Once I arrived I took a trail climb to the top of a cliff, which is where I am right now, sitting on the edge with my legs dangling off the side and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks many feet below. The ocean is so beautiful, with so many shades of blue as far as my eyes can see. If I was picking the colors out of a crayon box, I would classify the deepest part of the ocean as cerulian (which was always my favorite shade of blue to color the sky in a coloring book page). As the water nears the rocks it becomes a darker turquoise and blue-green, with dark patches of seaweed beneath the water surface. I know my words could never do justice to the genuine beauty of this ocean.



As I was walking along the trail near the top of the cliff, I was thinking about how this is the last day of my study abroad/travel adventure. This time tomorrow I will be on an airplane back to the States. I know I've written so many times about how lucky I feel to have had this experience - and at this point I don't care if it sounds cliche again...I truly am just so grateful for how everything worked out. Most of all I am grateful for everyone who has helped and supported me so that I could make this happen.



This has been so much more than I ever expected. I can't believe I'm on the Australian coast right now, on the opposite side of the world. Tomorrow I will be taking my final airplane ride this summer. For 23 hours I will be on route to my final destination: my home in Kansas. While I feel so blessed to have had this amazing journey, I am thrilled to pieces to be heading home. When I think back to all the experiences I have had this summer, I still feel like I am dreaming. Did I really do this? Did I really travel around the world? Yes. And I've got the pictures to prove it!



I had no idea how much I would learn about myself this summer. I wanted to be in a position in which I was the outsider, the minority, to see how it feels to really be on my own. I see so many International students in the USA who leave their homes for years at time to embark on a new life in the States. I realize now just how exhilarating, yet difficult that can be. It's not easy adjusting to a lifestyle that is completely different from what you have always known. You make the best of it, and maybe in doing so, you realize you are a lot stronger than you thought.

All that being said, I guess it's true that there really "is no place like home".