Goodbyes

Over the past year or so I’ve become really good at saying goodbye to things: my job, my Chicago apartment, my comfortable lifestyle, my possessions, my sanity, and my need for hot showers. The one type of goodbye I haven’t gotten any better at is goodbyes to friends, both old and new.

Traveling teaches you how to make deep connections and lasting friendships, sometimes in only a day. While that is probably one of the most valuable skills to have as a human being walking around the planet with other human beings, it is inevitable that a goodbye will happen.

Leaving the states without an idea of when I will be back gives goodbyes a different undertone. It’s not saying goodbye to a friend who is moving a city away…it’s an indefinite goodbye. It’s hard.

I’m learning.

Friendships are the best souvenirs one can have in life, and remembering that is key. With technology today, I can keep those friendships alive regardless of distance.

I don’t think I will ever be someone who can say goodbye to a friend without crying. It happens every single time, with every single friend.

I read a HuffPost article the other day (link at the bottom), and a sentence in there struck me: “We travel to learn, to experience, and to feel all the spectrums of being human in this world.”

Goodbyes are just another spectrum, and I intend on feeling them all.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-dandan/why-we-travel_1_b_4776068.html