Six Hours to the Start

In just about six hours, I will be in a plane officially commencing my exciting summer adventure to India. As close as my departure is, the fact has yet to sink in: for the next ten weeks, I will be experiencing life all the way on the other side of the world in a completely new and foreign country and culture. And I don’t think this fact will really sink in until I finally step foot in India. Until I find myself walking down the bustling streets of Bangalore meandering through busy crowds only half-conscious after nineteen hours of flying.

As someone who has never traveled further east than Arizona (no joke, it’s true), my adventure begins immediately. I am excited just to know I will be flying over parts of the United States I’ve never flown over! Soon enough, for the first time in my life, I will be in Europe during a layover in London.

Once in India, my friend/teammate/travel partner Alex and I plan to simply take each day as it comes. For two weeks before we migrate to Hubli to begin project work, we will be exploring South India first-hand and itinerary-free. Thus, at this point, I really cannot say what these next two weeks will bring–sounds like an adventure to me.

All in all, my true excitement and sense of adventure really comes from this belief: in six hours, I will officially have begun what will be a life-changing experience. Through this experience I will see things I have never seen both beautiful and ugly and live life in ways never before lived both familiar and alien. Through this adventure, I will learn and grow more than I could even try to imagine.