so once upon a time, i took this trip to the far away land of the east coast. born and raised in the western united states, this was a corner of the world untouched and unexperienced by little fifteen year-old me.

once upon a time, i went to new york city. {and washington d.c. too, where i learned a whole different set of truths, but that’s another story for another day} new. york. city. and although it sounds so incredibly silly, and a thousand times cliche, especially given how young i was at the time, that one trip ended up being the spark for so many different areas of growth in my life.

traveling to and from new york, plus all the adventures in between, has become so much more than a physical journey for me as time has gone on and i’ve had more moments to reflect, and look back, and connect.

although i would have never in a million years guessed it at the time, traveling to new york meant discovering myself (again, a thousand times cliche, but so honestly true). i was absolutely captivated by the city, and the people, and the smells, and the experience. but really, although the physical aspects of the city are fantastic, i was most drawn to the life. there exists a distinct vibe in a city that isn’t present in any other environment. it’s this mysterious sensation of diversity, and uniqueness, and a thousand different possibilities existing at the same time, but also the sensation of connection, that captures my fascination. perhaps i’ll write more on it sometime.

traveling to new york marked a shift in my vision of my future. the simple life of college, marriage, family, happy ending, that fifteen year-old me had stuck up in my head suddenly began changing a bit. suddenly new york had to fit in there. it just had to. true, it wasn’t a momentous shift, but it was certainly a refreshing one, and for someone who had grown up always with a fairly planned-out life, it was an intriguing turn of events.

traveling to new york also meant forming new friendships. i was fortunate enough to travel with a group of amazing people, who all affected me in some way or another, and again, i would have never in a million years guessed the outcome of this particular combination of circumstances. i have learned something unique and special from each of the people i traveled with.

it was a travel that brought me face to face with the windows and curtains of my mind, and that encouraged me to fling wide open those barriers so a new light, a new breeze, a new thought-train could stream its way in.

so yes, it can be looked at as a simple story of traveling, in which the fifteen year-old me saw “the phantom of the opera” on broadway, shopped the black market in chinatown, ate new york pizza, shopped in time square, and lived a little more than i ever had before, which is all good and fine, but it ended up being a story of so much more. it has ended up being a story of new beginnings, and one of those pivotal events that has the unknown potential to greatly alter the future.

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have you ever taken a trip that ended up meaning so much more than you thought it would? leave a comment and tell me about it – i love hearing from you! 

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