Monday, August 25, 2014

Counting up and downs



Recently my days have been spent on a see-saw of anxiety and excitement. Sometimes I feel like I am raised high and have the thrill of being seemingly suspended in the air, but then with a whoosh and bump I land in anxiety. It is this up and down experience that is leading me one day at a time to what has been a goal and dream in some form for years.

Travel has always represented freedom, discovery and adventure to me and all others who have the urge to travel in their soul. I have been fortunate to have been on a number of journeys, both here and overseas, but I have always had this urge to see further afield.

Over the last couple of years the United States has developed an inexplicable allure for me, where before it wasn't especially interesting. I suppose it is a place that both fascinates and horrifies me. A place that offers such difference and diversity in its abundance and poverty is bound to intrigue the anthropologist in me. At the same time there is a part of me that wants to see the bright lights and glitzy hype of the center of America's movie and television industry-Hollywood and Los Angeles at large.

It is with excitement and trepidation, as well as the conflict of my inner anthropologist with my heart of a teenage fangirl that I continue on this see-saw of a countdown, entering my last week till take-off. There are sure to be challenges and excitement of all kinds but overall I am willing to face them and enjoy them with the company of my wonderful traveling companions.