After leaving the east coast I headed to San Diego for almost 10 days.  What a treat to be able to fit this stop into the ‘Around the World in 10 months’ schedule.  Since my next destination was Australia, it just made sense to layover in San Diego for a couple of days to catch up with friends.  San Diego is my second home, having lived there for 7 years.  My friends are like family to me.  I am truly surrounded by the most caring, kind, generous and loving people a person could ever ask for.  You may think you have good friends, but let me take a moment to assure you that mine are by far the best! It was a bit unreal the level of support that arose around me last summer as I was preparing to leave for my trip.  So many people stepped up to offer emotional and tangible support.  From engaging in long conversations to letting me borrow things like backpacks, travel gear and even a CAR after I sold my own, it was truly unreal.

I struggled a bit when selling my car.
True story: I was talking to my dad one night about how difficult it was to sell this thing.
He responded with “Oh come on Theresa.  Doing this on your own builds character.  This is fun!”
“Dad would you be able to bake a cake? Layers, icing, the whole 9 yards?”
My dad is notorious for being a non-baker, non-cooker. According to him, my mom is so good why would he even want to attempt it.
After a moment he responded with “Well yeah probably I could figure it out.”
“Okay Dad, but would you find that experience fun or like it was building your character?”
“No  I would probably hate it.”
“Well that’s exactly how I feel about selling my car.  I can do it but I hate it.”
Radio silence on the other end.
“Hello Dad?  Are you still there?”
“Yeah, point taken.”
“I rest my case.”

So the car.  Selling the car was a nightmare.  I began the process  of selling it to close to my date of departure.  Because of this, I had to entertain the idea of keeping the car for the year while I was away.  This wouldn’t have been an issue if my parents lived in the area but seeing that I had no family around I wasn’t sure where I could store it.  Finally in a fit of desperation I emailed my principal (who lives outside of San Diego in a town with a bit more land than most of my friends.) I emailed her asking if worst case scenario could I store my car at her house for a couple of months.  She responded with: “Theresa!  Yes, you can keep your car with us.  Tom (her husband) will start the car every few weeks and try to sell if for you if you would like. Just let me know.”  WHAT?! I mean really.  This is my boss. How lucky am I that I have these type of people in my life?  Pretty unbelievable.  Ultimately, I was able to sell my car (through a reference from another friend!) and all was well.

My friends created a “Read Me When. . .” card gift package.  They all took time to write me a card and then titled them in different ways.  “Read me when you are feeling homesick,” “Read me when you are so happy to not be working for a year,” “Read me when you need to remember how much we miss you.” I read these cards every few weeks and it means so much to me.

Heading back to SD was a bit of a mindtrip for the first couple of days.  In Pennsylvania, I have spent 7 years feeling like a visitor in that I am used to living out of a suitcase and borrowing my parents car (‘high school style’.)  Being in SD as a visitor was so strange.  Not having a car, sleeping at my friend’s houses, rushing around to ‘visit’ people, stopping in at my old school with someone else in my office and doing my job; it all just felt kinda surreal.

Luckily after a few days of resettling, my friends and I didn’t miss a beat.  It was like nothing had changed. I attended a lovely bachelorette party in LA, spent quality time with friends, visited my adorable cat and the wonderful family he is residing with, cut 11 inches of my hair, attended at bonfire on the beach and had an overall fabulous 10 days of catching up.

Throughout my visit my friends were so sweet saying things like, “We are just so proud of you for doing this.”  Proud of me? Proud of me for vacationing! For taking the year off of work and traveling!  But. of course,  I knew what they were saying.  Proud of me for taking the leap into the unknown.  My typical response was “I couldn’t have done it without all of you!” Another thing I have heard is “You are so brave. I could have never done this.”  Honestly, my thoughts are “Yes you could!”  I’m not quite sure who I am fooling out there, but I am really not that brave.  I get scared all the time. Half the time I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. But that doesn’t stop me from doing it.

I read a quote once that said “Being brave is not being afraid to be afraid.”  I AM afraid or anxious or nervous many points along my path, but I try to remind myself that it’s okay to be afraid.  I don’t love to fly.  I hate goodbyes. I don’t really love heights. I’m not the biggest fan of spiders. I’m a bit of a homebody. I miss my family and friends all the time. And all those things are okay. What’s not okay is for that fear or anxiety to stop me from moving forward.  Another story I love:

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
“One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, anxiety, and ego.
“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
“This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”
The old chief simply replied,
“The one you feed.”

Moral of the story?  Stay positive and keep the faith!

San Diego Friends:  If I didn’t tell you how much you affected me and helped me with this whole transition please take this little note as a formal THANK YOU. I love you all a whole lot.