It’s been 26 weeks since I touched down in Singapore for the first time and 1 week from today I will be boarding a plane headed back home. Where does the time go? I mean seriously how is it that at the start of a 6 month journey the final date seems like ages away yet now looking back it’s like I blinked and my time here is over.
I figured in this final week my emotions would be high and my thoughts would be consumed in making sure I’ve checked everything off my list of things I wanted to do as well as making sure I brought home the best souvenirs to clutter my future homes with. Yet, as the countdown gets closer and closer I’ve been having more reassurance in the “success” of my trip and am finding myself ready to say goodbye to Asia (for now) and start the next journey back home.
So what makes this trip a success for me? How could anyone define the success of living in a country on the other side of the world? To Mr. Snazzypants ex-pat it probably means owning a penthouse apartment in the nicest area of town and having a job with an important title. To the English Teacher in Thailand it might mean making it through a long semester and finding the beauty of a new culture.
My trip here in Singapore has been successful (in my eyes) for a number of reasons. But when its boiled down, I feel successful for one sole reason; because I got on that plane.
I am proud of myself because, believe it or not, it took a WHOLE LOT of courage to step onto that plane back in August. This little adventurer sure can get cold feet more often then I let on. However, I put myself out there and have ended up learning so much about myself and about travel.
You all probably caught on from my posts on my trip to Thailand about how I fell in love with the country and could have stayed for a few months. Well after coming back from that trip is when I started to really freak out about leaving Southeast Asia. I kept feeling like I should go back to Thailand while I’m here and was actually looking up tickets to go for another quick weekend trip. Well ultimately it was too expensive and the trip would have been rushed, but it started to hit me then that I wasn’t missing out on anything. Each of the trips I’ve been fortunate enough to take in the last 6 months have proved to me that I can travel the world and I can go to new countries. My trip to Thailand opened me up to its beauty and culture and more importantly helped me to realize that yes, I can come back here. It might not be a 2 hour plane ride from Singapore but if I want it enough I can make it happen.
I have zero regrets for the time I spent in the past 6 months and while I would have loved to add a few more countries to my list of travel destinations, I am extremely thankful and blessed to have gone to 6 different countries in the last 6 months.
So what will this adventurer do her last week in Singapore? Just live my Singapore life with a little more thought given to the small things. I’ll wake up each morning and look out my bedroom window, soaking up the colorful view. I’ll go to work and…well work helps pays the bills so I’ll try to remember how this job has allowed me the opportunity to travel. I’ll get back home at the end of the day and find something good for dinner, take a walk on the path near my apartment, leave the windows open (pray that birds and lizards don’t invite themselves in) and enjoy the warm weather. And I’ll be sure to stop at some of my favorite places here in Singapore along the way (mostly centered around food, I mean hey it is Singapore after all).
Oh and perhaps I’ll splurge a bit and enjoy a tiger beer every night after work…
One week, of course my dad could probably give you the hours!
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