It took all the way up until I was sitting on the plane flying back to the United States for these feelings to rise to the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about going home, or even that I wasn’t looking forward to going home. It was more like I just didn’t want to believe that it could all come to an end so suddenly. So, as I was sitting on the plane, trying to process everything I had done and seen in the last three months, I was suddenly slapped in the face with the question: What’s next?
Despite my crisis on the plane, being back in America at my home university hasn’t been as difficult as I worried it would be. It’s actually really easy to come home and slip back into the same routine you’ve been following for the last three years, walking past familiar campus buildings wondering if you actually ever even went to Ireland or it was just a strange dream. One quick look through your camera roll will tell you that, yes, it was all real, and then here comes that voice in your head again, asking…what’s next?
When I think about this question of “what’s next,” I can’t help but think about how obsessed we are with the future. Everyone is worrying about what assignments they have due tomorrow, what they’re going to eat for dinner tonight, or where they’re going to go for vacation in the summer. And while we’re thinking about these things, we’re forgetting to look at all the beauty and wonder that’s right in front of us, and all the adventures we could go on right now if we just stopped looking ahead so much.
Maybe that’s the true gift Ireland gave me: While I was there, I wasn’t looking ahead and asking, “what’s next?” Instead, I was connecting with people in real time and exploring hidden gems and diving into the history of a place (which are all things you can do at home as well!).
The beautiful sunset on my flight from Dublin to Chicago.
It took all the way up until I was sitting on the plane flying back to the United States for these feelings to rise to the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about going home, or even that I wasn’t looking forward to going home. It was more like I just didn’t want to believe that it could all come to an end so suddenly. So, as I was sitting on the plane, trying to process everything I had done and seen in the last three months, I was suddenly slapped in the face with the question: What’s next?
Despite my crisis on the plane, being back in America at my home university hasn’t been as difficult as I worried it would be. It’s actually really easy to come home and slip back into the same routine you’ve been following for the last three years, walking past familiar campus buildings wondering if you actually ever even went to Ireland or it was just a strange dream. One quick look through your camera roll will tell you that, yes, it was all real, and then here comes that voice in your head again, asking…what’s next?
When I think about this question of “what’s next,” I can’t help but think about how obsessed we are with the future. Everyone is worrying about what assignments they have due tomorrow, what they’re going to eat for dinner tonight, or where they’re going to go for vacation in the summer. And while we’re thinking about these things, we’re forgetting to look at all the beauty and wonder that’s right in front of us, and all the adventures we could go on right now if we just stopped looking ahead so much.
Maybe that’s the true gift Ireland gave me: While I was there, I wasn’t looking ahead and asking, “what’s next?” Instead, I was connecting with people in real time and exploring hidden gems and diving into the history of a place (which are all things you can do at home as well!).
Here I am standing in two counties at once!
It took all the way up until I was sitting on the plane flying back to the United States for these feelings to rise to the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about going home, or even that I wasn’t looking forward to going home. It was more like I just didn’t want to believe that it could all come to an end so suddenly. So, as I was sitting on the plane, trying to process everything I had done and seen in the last three months, I was suddenly slapped in the face with the question: What’s next?
Despite my crisis on the plane, being back in America at my home university hasn’t been as difficult as I worried it would be. It’s actually really easy to come home and slip back into the same routine you’ve been following for the last three years, walking past familiar campus buildings wondering if you actually ever even went to Ireland or it was just a strange dream. One quick look through your camera roll will tell you that, yes, it was all real, and then here comes that voice in your head again, asking…what’s next?
When I think about this question of “what’s next,” I can’t help but think about how obsessed we are with the future. Everyone is worrying about what assignments they have due tomorrow, what they’re going to eat for dinner tonight, or where they’re going to go for vacation in the summer. And while we’re thinking about these things, we’re forgetting to look at all the beauty and wonder that’s right in front of us, and all the adventures we could go on right now if we just stopped looking ahead so much.
Maybe that’s the true gift Ireland gave me: While I was there, I wasn’t looking ahead and asking, “what’s next?” Instead, I was connecting with people in real time and exploring hidden gems and diving into the history of a place (which are all things you can do at home as well!).
The gorgeous chapel at Maynooth University.
It took all the way up until I was sitting on the plane flying back to the United States for these feelings to rise to the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about going home, or even that I wasn’t looking forward to going home. It was more like I just didn’t want to believe that it could all come to an end so suddenly. So, as I was sitting on the plane, trying to process everything I had done and seen in the last three months, I was suddenly slapped in the face with the question: What’s next?
Despite my crisis on the plane, being back in America at my home university hasn’t been as difficult as I worried it would be. It’s actually really easy to come home and slip back into the same routine you’ve been following for the last three years, walking past familiar campus buildings wondering if you actually ever even went to Ireland or it was just a strange dream. One quick look through your camera roll will tell you that, yes, it was all real, and then here comes that voice in your head again, asking…what’s next?
When I think about this question of “what’s next,” I can’t help but think about how obsessed we are with the future. Everyone is worrying about what assignments they have due tomorrow, what they’re going to eat for dinner tonight, or where they’re going to go for vacation in the summer. And while we’re thinking about these things, we’re forgetting to look at all the beauty and wonder that’s right in front of us, and all the adventures we could go on right now if we just stopped looking ahead so much.
Maybe that’s the true gift Ireland gave me: While I was there, I wasn’t looking ahead and asking, “what’s next?” Instead, I was connecting with people in real time and exploring hidden gems and diving into the history of a place (which are all things you can do at home as well!).