Almost Home...

I can’t believe I’m going to be home in four days. Even though I’ve been mentally preparing for this since my classes ended two weeks ago, part of me is still in shock. One of the greatest things about travelling is the opportunity to simply speak to so many different people. At home, it’s so easy to sink back into the routine of seeing old friends, going to work, and hardly getting out to explore a new place or be exposed to new people.


Here, I’m the interesting one. Maybe it’s a little bit egotistical, but the attention people pay tourists is sort of addictive. Ooh, you’re from Boston? How far is that from New York? You know, I worked in Boston! Yeah, at the Natick Mall, selling lotions. What’s it like in Boston? Do you like it here? Why did you come here? When are you going back? Why so soon! When will you come back again?


I have no idea when I’ll come back again. This is one of the first times I’ve been here without have the slightest notion of when I’ll be back again. This is connected to the larger question of “What will I do with my life?” that I’d prefer not to explore at the moment.


In one year I’ll be graduating and I could go anywhere. Yes, my roots are in Boston, but this is exactly when I should be open-minded about what I’ll do and where I’ll do it. I could come back here to Israel, I could move to California (sorry Mommy), I could stay put in Boston. (I’m not really crazy about New York, which might have otherwise made the “potential future location” list.) The realm of possibilities is so gigantic it’s practically meaningless. A part of me wants to spend the next few years getting really good at a bunch of languages and then doing… something.


At least the next few months are basically set in stone. I’ll be working in Boston, playing lots of frisbee, and reuniting with my friends (whom I’ve sorely missed). It’ll be nice, terrific even, but part of me will pine for the freedom to hop on a train and travel up or down half the country, get off at a beach or wander around a market, talk to some people, then blog about it on the train ride home.