In the blink of an eye, Summer has come to an end. School starts tomorrow and I can hardly believe 3 months have passed since I cavalierly dumped my notes into a trash bin and kissed year 1 goodbye. It's so strange to think there was a time when I spoke about my summer in future tense. I jam-packed my summer with plans to make the most of it, and I was overseas for a grand total of about 8 weeks.
They say the only travel worth doing is the travel that changes you. I think all my voyages have changed me but, undoubtedly, in different ways and to varying degrees. It's clear that community work in the Philippines moved me the most because everything about the experience was so far from the life I had previously known.
I learnt to live on less and that we have so many unnecessary frills in our lives that distract from the raw experience. I remembered what it was like to be treated with overflowing love and genuineness, and to do so to others as much as possible. I also realised how different our lives are as individuals with our own stories. If you stop to think about it, we are so unimaginably, inexorably different from each other and no one will ever know you - the deepest, truest parts of you - except for yourself.
I can't say I understand what it's like to be you because the fact is I have never experienced the things you have experienced -- much less in the same order, manner or way you experienced them, nor with the same mindset, upbringing or beliefs. The little girl I saw from the window of my bus -- half-naked, peeking out from behind the makeshift bamboo gate, staring at us in wide-eyed bewilderment -- will never know my past nor my life thus far, and I will never understand hers. Our futures are divergent paths and that difference is what irks me. However, I don't think I would have known this had I not embarked on this wonderful journey with my team. I'm so thankful for that bunch and the memories we made.
My trip to Australia taught me more about responsibility. My first ever trip with friends, sans adults, and we nearly made it through without any hiccups (save for the last day when we missed our flight - the single most horrible experience you can imagine)! I think I learnt a lot from the random characters we met. Backpackers are an intriguing bunch because they all seem to be in on a secret to independent life we don't know.
That streak of independence continued on because I left for France 1 day after returning from Australia. All alone, never having travelled alone before -- and the I had to go from Singapore to Doha to Paris to Lyon and then making a final connection to Montpellier. Here comes the part where I say for the millionth time, "I can't believe it passed that quickly." 3 weeks in France just zipped past and I think the most important thing I learnt was to deal with things by myself, for myself.
Something happened back here while I was in France and it was the worst feeling in the world to be thousands of kilometres away from home, and away from the people who were going through the same thing. I felt so helpless in the midst of everything and what was worst was that there was nothing I could do to help my loved ones back home, what with a 4 hour train ride and 14 hour flight between us. Even worst was that it was so difficult to explain to the rest around me, but I learnt to deal with grief in solitude. That being said, I also learnt that all it takes is a little bit of time.
Nevertheless, France was an amazing experience because school was a melange of nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, and flavours. I loved meeting so many new people and I think I learnt more about other cultures in those 3 weeks than I've learnt in my whole life. I realised that some friendships have expiry dates because we are just fleeting moments passing through each others' lives. The important things are the memories you leave behind -- the ones that will be recalled through a fuzzy mind's eye -- that (hopefully) bring a smile even after years have passed. So, maybe sometimes it doesn't matter that some friendships slowly wither away, as long as you've moulded them in some way, even if ever so imperceptibly.
I feel so unspeakably blessed to have travelled so much the past 3 months. I did learn a lot about myself and so many times I thought, "this is why you have to travel while you can". I constantly found myself rendered speechless by the beauty of nature, utterly blown away by the immense richness of history or caught up in the excitement of doing things I never thought I'd do. It was youth, it was freedom and it was happiness. Memories made for a lifetime, and a summer I'll remember for years to come. Summer 2014, over and out.
Here's to an excellent Year 2 filled with even more adventures.
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