~leave your footprint~

•  “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place. We stay there, even though we go away, and there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” – Pascal Mercier

• Two years & two days ago today, I left to study abroad in Scotland. A life-changing experience I will never forget. I was able to explore the different mountains, trails, and towns. Learn about the culture and study my field in a different country. I discovered things I didn’t know about myself. I became more confident and self-sufficient.

• I left a piece of me with every laugh I shared with new friends, every trail I ran on, every step I took hiking, every cup I sipped at a coffee shop, every door I opened. It’s odd to think about it that way but it’s true. The memories I made are similar to that of a snow globe, it seems enclosed in glass, untouchable, unable to be reached again until I return.

• I miss the friends I met there, the family I have there, and the sense of lost and exploration. But that’s what makes traveling so sweet and so addictive. I can’t wait for my next travels with good people, a need for adventure, and the eagerness to leave a footprint.