On March 14 of this year, I turned 27.
27. I officially can not pretend I am in my early twenties anymore. I am an adult. For the past two years, I have been working around the clock, dreaming impossible dreams of traveling the world by myself.
The older I get, the more I realize I don’t know. When I first began this blog, I had no idea about writing or marketing. I still have no idea. But, here’s my new goal. This twenty-seventh year, I want to write at least two meaningful blog posts to this site a week. Unfortunately, I haven’t updated it on the several adventures I had between twenty-five and now: so, some of these will be reflective of adventures past.
For as long as I can remember, I wandered curiously about the lives of other people. It seems to me that everyone lives in their own fish tank. Think about the fish you see at a pet store. There are other tanks everywhere, but the fish are limited to the one tank they inhabit. We, the people at the pet store, know there are thousands of other fish tanks, and thousands of other fish. We know that the saltwater tank even has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Statue, and that the freshwater tank has a pirate ship. But, the fish only know one tank in which they swim idly. The goldfish have no idea that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exist. In fact, they have no idea that the ocean exists. Or that fish outside of their tank exist- because they are trapped in that one tank, and haven’t had access to the thousands of other fish tanks, ponds, or oceans.
Life is like that. We live and breathe and eat and sleep in a fish tank. Our cultural norms, and values are determined by the people and statutes around us. As a person, I have so much to learn from other people and cultures. I know that no matter how much I read, there will always be more to discover. I have now worked in the American system for almost a decade, and I know there has to be other ways to live.
I want to get out of the American Fish Tank. Hence, the Gap Year. Twenty-seven may be late, but it’s better late than never.
1wanderingcuriously 