Reflections on 2018

My life has come full circle this past year and a half. I went from being a student at University of Wisconsin – La Crosse to living in Nepal for eight months to being a student again. I’m now back at UWL, but this time as a graduate student. It was difficult leaving a life of constant travel; the simplicity and constant change; the fresh perspectives and connection. However, I felt I should finish the journey I started five years ago during undergrad and become a physical therapist. 

Graduate school in the U.S. is a different world than backpacking through Nepal. It’s hard to summarize my time in Nepal. I spent weeks backpacking in the Himalayas, worshiped beside Tibetan monks, navigated the dusty streets of Kathmandu, learned to barter in the market, danced in rice fields, and shared more cups of tea than I could count. I have never been so engaged, challenged, and open in my life. It was beyond my wildest dreams.

When I returned to the U.S. in May, it was like someone pressed fast-forward. I visited friends & family on the East Coast. Took a road trip out to the Badlands & Mount Rushmore. Registered for classes and begin preparing for the next adventure: graduate school. Spending the summer in PT school in Wisconsin was a bit underwhelming after a year of travel, but I managed to have a little fun between long hours of study. 

I hoped that a year abroad would quench my thirst for travel over the next three years of grad school. It did not. If anything, it only made my desire to travel stronger. I often catch myself daydreaming about my next escape: Winter break backpacking in Arizona. Maybe slipping in a trip to Isle Royal next summer. Perhaps South America in 2020.  And, of course, Nepal. 

There’s a quote by Mark Twain that goes like this:

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.”

I’ve thought about these words often during the past year. Although I love this quote, I believe what it asks can’t be done. By doing one thing, you will always be missing out on another. By going to grad school, I may be missing out on opportunities abroad. But by remaining abroad, I would miss the boat to becoming a physical therapist which opens channels to seas I never knew existed. I realize that I don’t have time in this life explore every sea. No one does. All we can do is continue to sail and expand our maps.