Why We Travel

I keep this picture on my desktop, of three of the girls in Malawi, and my heart bursts every time I look at it. I'm missing Malawi a lot today. As I prepare for my stay in France, only a month away now, it does feel bittersweet that I won't be spending the next year in Mzuzu instead. There would be something comforting about returning to that city instead of moving somewhere new again.

But, as scared as I am of the uncertainty that awaits me, I feel slightly more confident parting ways with dear America this time. I loved Malawi not in spite of but because of its differences to home - the differences that first disguised themselves as flaws. No one wore watches, we ate with our hands, I had to walk everywhere. The daily rainstorms. The only bar in town. The mud. I don't know for sure why we travel, but if I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with learning how to see those things as quirks that only enhance our experiences. We don't fly around the world for more of the same.