BFF

The time to leave Phoenix is drawing near. For the last several weeks, I've been organizing yard sale items, packing things to take with me to Vietnam, & scanning old photos & memorabilia into my computer. In the meantime, I've also been having lunch, coffee & beers with friends as I say goodbye to each of them. That has been the hardest part: saying goodbye.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very excited to start my new adventure as a world traveler. It's what I've wanted to do for so long now. I'm finally cutting my ties with conventional life to live a life of a vagabond. I just wish I weren't doing it alone.

My father was in the military, so I grew up moving around the globe. We stayed two years here, three years there, ten months over there. I wouldn't trade the experiences that I gained as a child for anything. But every time that we moved to a different place, I had to say goodbye to my friends, people that I had grown very attached to. When I was little, it didn't matter too much, but it got harder & harder as I got older. I remember throwing a tantrum at the airport in Thailand when I was eight years old. We were on our way back to the US, but I didn't want to leave my friends in Bangkok, & told my parents that they could go home without me. It didn't work.

Over the years, I've continued to move around, leaving old friends behind. I've had almost no contact with my friends from high school or college. When I left Ohio in 1996, I left those friends behind as well. I have no idea where any of them are now. It was just too hard to stay in touch with snail mail & long distance charges.

So now, as I prepare to move yet again, I'm fearful that I will lose contact with all of the wonderful amazing people that I have met in Phoenix, the people who have played a part in shaping who I am today. That's why I'm so grateful for the internet. It will be much easier to stay connected, no matter where I am in the world.