This photo was taken in November 2006 somewhere in Samoa. I stole it from a very old blog post I must have written during my training for Peace Corps. The title of the blog entry was 'living out of a suitcase' and it was written about how much i enjoy this lifestyle of uncertainty and lack of concern for destination. I remember writing it. I originally wrote it in a journal on a sunny day in the capital, Apia. I felt the words gather meaning as I wrote them as if somehow I was convincing myself of something that I already knew, as if this was my destiny revealed to myself.
This second photo was taken last November (seven years later) in Lebanon. My friend took it during a very natural moment of catching a breath after a hike and absorbing the happiness of nature all around me. The feeling I had in this moment is exactly the same feeling I had quite a few years back when I was coming to terms with my placement in this universe as a traveler for life. My first sentiment in publishing these two strangely related photos was to muse with the conversation these two people might have had however I figure they wouldn't really see each other differently at all in fact they would probably just nod and realize that hardly anything has changed. I have this deep and earnest desire to travel the world and I have been doing it slowly yet thoroughly for thirty-two years now. I go at my own pace and sometimes I am actually fortunate enough to unpack that suitcase for a while and call a place my home. and it happens again.. as soon as the words come from my hands I feel that excitement of understanding that this is my destiny. My backpack comes into focus behind my computer screen and I know that before long she will be my only companion again. A page finishes and a new chapter begins.
