I’d like to take you on a little trip a few years back. It’s the fall of 2016. Having returned in the spring that year from Bhubaneswar, India – where I spent my last semester as an undergraduate student at GVSU – I put off moving back in with the ‘rents as long as possible by working first as a camp counselor at a German language immersion camp in Minnesota, and then as a hiking guide for German tourists in the Canadian Rockies. As summer came to a close and I finally faced the inevitable, I returned to Howell and took on a couple odd jobs while preparing for the next major step in my life.
During this time I felt a certain mix of emotions: excited that I had finished undergrad and could do whatever I wanted; overwhelmed that I had finished undergrad and could do whatever I wanted; and, of course, antsy to ‘get my life started’. It was a regular old quarter-life-crisis.
It was at this point that I distinctly remember having a conversation with my mother in the kitchen during which I said something to the effect of, I think I’d like to spend the next five years living abroad (probably much to her horror – sorry ma!). You see, there weren’t many things I was sure of regarding my life back then, yet one thing I did know: that I wanted to spend my 20s living overseas. Life just seemed too short and the world too big not to. So I began the long process of applying for the English Program in Korea with my sights set on shipping out in the spring of 2017.
And well, over five years, four ultimate frisbee teams, three cities, two countries, a pandemic, master’s degree, and a long-ass bike ride later, here I am! It truly goes by quicker than you think. There were of course many unplanned adventures along the way, like taking a trip to a contested island in the East Sea (독도 우리 땅! ;) or having a stay at a nudist campsite in the middle of France (it’s more fun than you think!). Indeed, I’ve got about 5 journals full of tales such as these.
Now, did I know I was going to do all that (and then some) when I had that conversation with my mother back then? Of course not! But it all happened simply because I chased a goal and I took the opportunities I was afforded along the way. I tried to approach each new situation and encounter with a why not? Instead of a why? And it was totally worth it. Not because I want to collect stories for my grandchildren, but because achieving something, doing something, learning something, just feels fantastic.
So to you, dear reader, having managed to put up with my ramblings for this long, my parting piece of advice is this: chase your dreams and say yes to anything and everything you can. It’s your life after all, and you only get one of them. Let it be an adventure to be experienced. Have a roadmap, but don’t let that deter you from taking the scenic route.
It certainly won’t be all sunshine and rainbows. Indeed, there were moments of intense loneliness when I was abroad, moments where I doubted myself and what I was doing living so far away from home. There were (too many) tearful goodbyes and an immense amount of frustration when the world went into lockdown and plans needed to be readjusted. There were times when I felt I was missing out on everything happening back home.
But dammit, I chased my dreams. I said yes to things, and I came out the end a better person for it. I hope you do too.
So what’s next for me?
Funnily enough, I find myself currently in a strangely similar situation to the one I was in a few years ago. Having returned home and worked several odd jobs (family landscaper and babysitter) I now await my next Lebensabschnitt: this time as a Global Mobility Coordinator and Immigration Specialist with Lufthansa in New York. I suppose this will be a bit of a different (domestic) undertaking, but I look forward to it all the same.
For those who have followed along and supported my journey these past few years, thank you! I hope I’ve inspired you to go on an adventure of your own, no matter how big or small. Just go do. Learn to find the joy in all things, good or otherwise.
“With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” – Desiderata
Much love,
Ryry
