Why I Came Home

"I know for fact he came home to see his girlfriend."

"Rumor has it that you couldn't handle living out of a backpack for a year."

"Of course I was right about Luke and Alex."

I was slightly surprised to encounter so much questioning of my resolve about travel. After all, I had lived in a foreign country for longer than anyone I know, and all entirely on my own without the help of an American program. I know that traveling out of a backpack is a beast of a different sort, but I think anyone who knows me knows that I have little need for anything beyond a few shirts, pants, really bad smelling sandals, a bottle of cologne to cover the smell of my really bad smelling sandals, and a place to sleep that won't get me arrested. As far as hygiene and sickness go, squatting dumps and daily bouts of diarrhea don't phase me. In fact, I almost enjoyed the novelty of it all.

Sometimes people paint travel as an unrealistic fantasy - to drop everything and travel the world. They say that when we actually do it, we'll realize that we're just as unhappy as we were before, and that travel is hard, gritty and unromantic. Well, those people are wrong. Frankly, there's very little that's difficult about traveling - it's a charmed lifestyle. You have no responsibilities but to wander amidst foreign cultures and meet some of the most interesting people you'll ever meet. You can be whoever you want, because friends last only one night and a few pints. Your only concern is finding the best priced falafel in town, and yes, I guess the daily bouts of diarrhea.

The truth is that when I left the trip, I wasn't exactly sure why I was abandoning what seemed to be the trip of a lifetime - a trip that had been arduously constructed by the dedicated research of myself and my companions. Every outward sign pointed to a great trip. However, for whatever reason, my heart wasn't in it. When I found myself planning our next move or wandering the streets of the old city, I wasn't enlivened by the traveler's spirit that I once enjoyed in Italy, a spirit that is essential for travel. From a romantic perspective, nothing should be done without passion. From a practical perspective, you probably shouldn't spend loads of excess cash on something you don't enjoy. Either way, I knew going home was the right thing.

Well, since coming home I've realized why I left. After graduation, the crossroad of crossroads in one's life, I found myself with a distinct need for some direction in my life. I hadn't taken the last two years of my life seriously, traveling Europe and planning our next trip, so that by the time I was actually on the trip, I was burnt out. I realized that I had lost all sense of purpose. I know that travel can be a justifiable purpose, but for this trip, it was not for me. Upon coming home, I begin studying intensely for the LSAT and am in the process of applications.

I've far from ruled out future travels, and maybe I'll have to to dispel people's doubts. My apologies go out to my companions for my abrupt departure, and I hope that this clears up why I left.