Saying Goodbye to the Emerald Isle

I wasn’t planning on writing a mushy gushy goodbye post but as I sit at the airport waiting for my flight to London, I’m finding myself on the verge of tears as I think back to the past two months that I’ve spent in Ireland. 

When I landed in Dublin on September 5th, I had absolutely NO idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that a family of four would be picking me up from the train station. For all I knew, I could have been picked up by the Walton’s and sent to live in the wilderness for two months! Luckily, the lovely McCoy family collected me that day from the train station and one of the best experiences of my life had begun. 

As I’ve written in previous posts, my decision to quit my job and travel had a lot to do with my own insecurities and feelings of confusion about myself and where I belong in this crazy world. Every twentysomething goes through this and everyone handles it differently. I personally chose to follow my passion of travel, which lead me to this beautiful country! I think I secretly hoped that I would wake up one day and have an epiphany – “This is it! I know what I want to do with my life! Finally, I've figured it out!” Well, this didn't happen. In fact, I still have no idea what I want to do with my life! But I can honestly say I am leaving Ireland a very different person. Without getting too personal, I think the major difference is that I wake up every single day feeling incredibly happy and content with life. Not that I was unhappy before, but I felt like something was missing. I know I am not alone here and I think this mindset stems from what our society’s view of success is. Since the beginning of our lives it is instilled in our minds that success = money, promotions, nice cars, beautiful homes, “good” jobs. So, this is what we spend our lives trying to achieve, even if it doesn’t make us happy. Most of us graduate college, get a job we aren’t passionate about and work up the corporate ladder. This is great for the people that believe in it but I don’t buy it. I’m the happiest I think I’ve ever been and I haven’t gotten a paycheck in over two months! But I have spent two amazing months in a new culture with four very special people. I've made friends from all over the world, I've slept on strangers couches, I've found myself in compromising situations and somehow found my way out. I've learned so much about myself and my capabilities. I suppose I could go on and on but simply put, traveling was the absolute best decision I think I've ever made. 

One day I will find my “dream job,” get married and have a bunch of little kiddies. If this happens when I’m 45 and I’m still driving my two-door Honda, so be it. Until then I will continue to do the things that make me feel fulfilled and I hope to inspire many others to 
do the same :)