Monday, June 8, 2009

The Road is Calling Me

I just got off work at the coffee shop and am now hanging out in a different coffee shop for the rest of the afternoon... Is that weird?

The past few days, I've been feeling restless.  It's a familiar feeling for me.  It starts with the mention of a far-away place or boredom or something completely unrelated to anything.  And then I think, "I'm 24.  Any day now, I'm going to wake up and be 25 and then 26 and then it's just a short jump to 30.  And somewhere in there I need to create a life of somewhere."

And then I literally get kind of itchy.  I think, "I have so many things I need to do.  I have so many places I need to see."  

I remind myself how much I love my life and the people around me and that I've only been in KC for like 4 months.  And I'm not old, and it's my life, and why can't I still be a nomad when I'm 35 if I still want to be.  So I settle down a little.

But it doesn't really go away.  I look at Craigslist jobs in Seattle and Washington DC.  I find cheap flights to Europe and South America and the Middle East.  I look at internships and volunteer opportunities.  I create completely unrealistic budgets in the hopes that I can have some great fortune that would afford me a year of traveling.

I get in my car and I want to keep driving.  This is a feeling that plagued me when I was younger.  I had one friend that lived outside my hometown and she didn't get her license until way after the rest of us.  So I would always go pick her up.  And I would always be driving out to her house, with the sun setting right in front of me and it would literally take force of will to take the exit to go to her house and not just keep driving.  

The feeling's not quite so dramatic anymore, but I still just want to go.  Be somewhere, experience something, meet people.  So much stops me and I get frustrated.  But the need is still there.  Sometimes I wish it would go away, but most of the time I think it's a blessing.

All this to say, if there's cheap flights to see you, I may be coming!  Watch out for me...

Much love.

Song of the Day:  Why Georgia by John Mayer (sums this all up...)

3 comments:

Cathy said...

You can come see me!!! I like Kate!!!

gwen said...

Kate, you're killing me ... you sure get this honest, and I'm sorry if I caused it ... not that it's a bad thing! I hope it's not because I always feel the same way ... and you know how old I am! :]

I'd be ready to take a sabbatical if you get serious about traveling! Love you!

Mom

Lacey said...

I'm still up for our late nights pondering how we could travel and help people. Hop from church to church or home to home... state to state and letting God use us in big ways.. PEOPLE NEED US KATE. Ha We would make a great team.