March 11, 2010: Wake up at an unholy hour in Phuket, Thailand. Navigate the dark and quiet streets to get to the bus station. Arrive at an airport, the memory of which has escaped my mind completely. Board a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Make one final foreign transaction, exchanging baht to ringits. Board another bus to a familiar hostel in the city center. Spend the day with Sarah Jones wandering the busy streets of KL and stopping at a fancy mall, mostly just killing time. Talk about the things that we are excited to do once we get back to the United States. Head back to the hostel, throw away clothes that have seen too many dusty bus rides, try to sleep in sweltering heat for a few short hours until we can board our transcontinental flight - taking us from Malaysia to China to the US - the next morning.
March 11, 2011: Wake up at a comfortable hour in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Navigate my way down the stairs of my condo. Arrive in the chilly kitchen, and prepare breakfast for my fiance. Enjoy food that looks familiar and goes down easily. Say goodbye to my fiance, seeing him for the last time for about two weeks. Drive myself to a grocery store about a mile away. Wander distractedly through the isles overflowing with abundance, seeking a few simple ingredients. Spend the afternoon by myself, packing up my clothes, cleaning the house, preparing a salad to take to the Everglades. Drive downtown and finish up some work in an office with my nameplate outside the door. Drive back to a place I call home, chat on the phone with Sarah Jones about wedding plans, and cuddle up in bed, thinking about what a difference a year makes.
Today is a reflective one for me. Over the past 365 days, I've been taken from a place of uncertainty, vagabonding, and wandering, to one of stability, responsibility, and clarity. When I compared this day this year to last, I almost couldn't believe how different things have become. Life has moved so quickly since I've returned, bringing many new adventures with it. I hope that I'm able to carry the same sense of wonder and awe that I carried with me around the world into the new stage of life that I am moving into!
