world traveler
san francisco, california
sedona, arizona
new york, new york (booked)
london, uk (booked)
berlin, germany (booked)
madrid, spain (booked)
accra, ghana (booked)
las vegas, nevada (booked)
seoul, korea
aruba
to be honest, i wouldn’t say i am fit to be a world traveler. sounds more glamorous than it actually is. i hate planes. i hate how they make my knees ache. i get motion sickness riding anything that moves (seriously). i can’t sleep with the lights on or with noise. i love korean food and sushi too much to be away from it. but i will withstand all that to see a new world.
what’s worse is that i have never traveled alone. i say i have loner tendencies but this is something else. i don’t quite understand when my friends say that they would love to travel alone. what joy can you have eating by yourself? how amazing can a sunset or a sculpture or a moment be if not someone to share it with?
the more i think about all the traveling i’ll be doing, the more i think about how much time i will be spending alone. i’ve never really spent too much time alone, ever. instead of turning this into a very emo episode, i want to say that, despite the fear, i am looking forward to some time in solitude. solitude vs. loneliness- tough to distinguish at times, but the distinction is huge. what is the difference? solitude- you’re alone but not really because you are fully with God and experience His love intimately vs. loneliness- the deception the world proclaims that no one loves you.
Jesus spent a lot of time in solitude with God. he always had to withdraw from everyone to have intimacy with God. he probably longed for those moments and he probably needed it too. it is humanly exhausting to constantly love. that is why even Jesus needed God to fulfill the greatest commandment. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37. And if we have been commanded to live like Christ did, then i am convinced that God would meet us in the same manner- in quiet and lonely places, where our we are able to bare our souls to the only one that can provide a love that covers all our fears, mistakes and shame.
so as i withdraw from my everyday, i expect to have new moments of intimacy that will stretch me in uncomfortable ways. love is never easy. he never said it was going to be easy. he did say however, it will be worth the reward.
i embark march 17. the countdown begins.
