Reflecion

Since returning home I have reflected on our journey through stories to friends and family, funny (and sometimes serious) inside reminders between Josh and I and the occasional day dream. But more than just stories being told and retold, I have to share the strange feeling of returning from such an adventure, and how far beyond reflection it is for us. We returned back home to not much change, things almost exactly as we left them. Now this may not seem strange since for the normal person not much changes in three months, but in three months we hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, traveled by bus for upwards of 25 hours, saw every environment from rainforest to dry desert dunes, rode horses, took a boat down the Amazon, stayed with an Argentine family, participated in Inca rituals, drank local drinks and ate local food (including Alpaca), slid down huge sand dunes, ate Asado with a local argentine family, saw how the rich lived, saw how the less rich lived, LIVED in Argentina. I could go on and on, but you get it. You get that each week was filled with something new, and it made me realize something; life is not to be lived in vain. We are not here to find a job and work our way up that ladder to eventually fit in with the "norm." We are here to be challenged and to challenge those around us. We are here to make mistakes and let things happen as they are going to happen. I know I try to control a lot in my life because I had the desire to follow the wealth track which means get a degree, get a good job that pays well, start a family...ya ya ya we all know it, but wow it couldn’t be a more poisonous thought. I truly do not know what to do with this information or how I plan to apply it to my current life, but I can tell you that after the last three month something has changed in me. All of a sudden I am not so worried about money or notoriety or success in the typical manner. I am looking for fulfillment for myself and those I love, whatever that may be. I cannot begin to explain the impact that the last three months have had on me, but I guess the above can give you some idea.

I wish to make travel a big part of my life as a continuous reminder of the above. I hope that everyone gets to experience what we experienced.

With lots of love...Amy