I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten this question in the past week – and how many times I have answered with “Um, I don’t really know.. hopefully!”
I mean I have things in my pack, I have started taking my malaria pills, I quit one of my jobs, said goodbye to my loved ones… does that make me ready? How do you really know when you’re ready for something?
Right now life is really good. I am just starting to adjust (and love) having a new roommate in the house, having just one job, and spending time with people that make me feel more alive and a bit freer and a bit less stressed. I am part of a team of employees that are also friends that care about each other, I am part of a family that is supportive and big hearted, and I have people in my life that are excited for me and that I have the honor of missing while I am away.
There is one part of me that is a little sad to leave my lovely little life right now – mostly because I have the anticipation and the fear of not knowing what my experience is going to be like. But the other part of me is so thirsty for this experience.
Something happened to me during my three months in Italy that gave me a zest for new experiences and a confidence to do things alone. I became more comfortable making a fool of myself speaking a language I don’t know. I became good at getting lost and asking questions. I became good at seeing the positive in a challenging situation.
With my various previous travel experiences under my belt, this experience only seems natural. In all reality, six weeks is not that long. You could do anything for six weeks. Things at home, more or less, will stay the same in 6 weeks time.
Whatever this experience may hold for me I welcome the challenges, I am feeling the fear and sitting in my nerves, but I am also ready to embrace a new culture, and dive into relationships and experiences that will give me perspective and change me for the better. I am going there to volunteer, but honestly I see it as a learning experience. I am going as a student, not a rescuer or hero.
A year ago, while I was working at HoneyRock, visiting Comamos Juntos crept its way into my dreams and landed on my bucket list. A week from today, I will have already been to the cloud forest and swam in waterfalls and started doing some volunteer work. Hard to believe that after months and weeks of planning and dreaming, it’s actually here. Funny how a date can sneak up on you like that.
I will be arriving in Managua in t-minus 48 hours. Stay tuned for first experiences and first impressions of Nicaragua in the next week or so!