The aisles are cramped. The lighting dim. 29…31…33…35…a..b. You’re there. You hope to yourself that no one has taken your precious overhead storage compartment. You pop open the trunk in anticipation and you collectively breathe a sigh of relief. It’s empty. You throw your duffle up into the compartment and scoot in to your window seat. your backpack is a bit bulky. Doesn’t fit the best under your seat, but it will have to do. You can never afford to underpack your life. It’s 5 minutes till take off. The windows are open and the luminescence of the morning sunlight is in the air. You look outside. Scared? Yes. Nervous? Undoubtedly. 6 months. Six months. In a world on your own. In a place you’ve never been before. In a city filled with people of an entirely different culture than yours, filled with people who probably could tell that you are different from just a glance. “Will I fit in? Will I make friends? Am I going to be lonely? Homesick? What’s the weather like? Is it true? I guess it could be cold. Wait. Did I bring my umbrella? Oh… I’ll just buy one there. I wonder what my life is going to be like. I wonder if everything will be different when I get back. I wonder…if I will be different.” “No. I can’t change.” You suddenly reminisce about that conversation you had just two nights ago. “Promise me you’ll be the same when you come back, babe. Promise me you won’t forget about me.” “I promise! I promise…”, you say as the tears stream down your cheeks. There’s really nothing harder than this. Life will undoubtedly change. There’s no questioning it. Your reverie is suddenly disturbed by the rumbling of the plane’s engine. While lost in your thoughts, you quickly realized that you had missed the entire safety demonstration. “Oh, I know it all anyways. Seen it a thousand times. Wait… what if something happens? No. No. NO. That’ll never happen to me. Never. Stop. Stop thinking about it. Focus on something else!” And your eyes shift back to the window. You’re slowly moving now. There’s no turning back. Tears stream down your face but you’re probably so used to it by now that you don’t even notice. Everything that you have become used to your whole life is now behind you. Your friends,  your family. Your home, your bed. The food you eat and the places you go. Those utterly boring and default go-to hangout spots you used to go to with your friends are now something you long for. “Six months. I can get through this. It’ll be fun! It’ll be the time of my life! I just know it.” But it doesn’t feel like that right now. It doesn’t feel like that in the least bit. Your heart is telling you not to leave. Your heart is wishing that you could go back. But your mind is telling you no. The tears turn from small drops to steady streams. In your thoughts you failed to realize that you have a neighbor right next to you. “I hope he doesn’t ask me if I’m okay”. You try to hide the tears but you can’t. Its just too much now. You’re in the air. The buildings that you used to see everyday are now covered by the clouds.  It’s just too much to take in. This is… it. Goodbye, home. Goodbye, friends. Goodbye…, love. Here’s to the next six months. Here’s to a once in a lifetime experience. Remember! Remember where you’re from. Remember who you are. Keep that close to your heart and never forget. Never let it go. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of a new place take over what you believe in. Don’t let the people  you meet change you for the worse. Come back the same. Come back to me as if you never even left. Come back. Just come back.

The aisles are cramped. The lighting dim. 29…31…33…35…a..b. You’re there. You hope to yourself that no one has taken your precious overhead storage compartment. You pop open the trunk in anticipation and you collectively breathe a sigh of relief. It’s empty. You throw your duffle up into the compartment and scoot in to your window seat. your backpack is a bit bulky. Doesn’t fit the best under your seat, but it will have to do. You can never afford to underpack your life.

It’s 5 minutes till take off. The windows are open and the luminescence of the morning sunlight is in the air. You look outside. Scared? Yes. Nervous? Undoubtedly. 6 months. Six months. In a world on your own. In a place you’ve never been before. In a city filled with people of an entirely different culture than yours, filled with people who probably could tell that you are different from just a glance.

“Will I fit in? Will I make friends? Am I going to be lonely? Homesick? What’s the weather like? Is it true? I guess it could be cold. Wait. Did I bring my umbrella? Oh… I’ll just buy one there. I wonder what my life is going to be like. I wonder if everything will be different when I get back. I wonder…if I will be different.”

“No. I can’t change.” You suddenly reminisce about that conversation you had just two nights ago. “Promise me you’ll be the same when you come back, babe. Promise me you won’t forget about me.” “I promise! I promise…”, you say as the tears stream down your cheeks. There’s really nothing harder than this. Life will undoubtedly change. There’s no questioning it.

Your reverie is suddenly disturbed by the rumbling of the plane’s engine. While lost in your thoughts, you quickly realized that you had missed the entire safety demonstration. “Oh, I know it all anyways. Seen it a thousand times. Wait… what if something happens? No. No. NO. That’ll never happen to me. Never. Stop. Stop thinking about it. Focus on something else!”

And your eyes shift back to the window. You’re slowly moving now. There’s no turning back. Tears stream down your face but you’re probably so used to it by now that you don’t even notice. Everything that you have become used to your whole life is now behind you. Your friends,  your family. Your home, your bed. The food you eat and the places you go. Those utterly boring and default go-to hangout spots you used to go to with your friends are now something you long for.

“Six months. I can get through this. It’ll be fun! It’ll be the time of my life! I just know it.” But it doesn’t feel like that right now. It doesn’t feel like that in the least bit. Your heart is telling you not to leave. Your heart is wishing that you could go back. But your mind is telling you no. The tears turn from small drops to steady streams. In your thoughts you failed to realize that you have a neighbor right next to you. “I hope he doesn’t ask me if I’m okay”. You try to hide the tears but you can’t. Its just too much now. You’re in the air. The buildings that you used to see everyday are now covered by the clouds.  It’s just too much to take in.

This is… it. Goodbye, home. Goodbye, friends. Goodbye…, love.

Here’s to the next six months. Here’s to a once in a lifetime experience. Remember! Remember where you’re from. Remember who you are. Keep that close to your heart and never forget. Never let it go. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of a new place take over what you believe in. Don’t let the people  you meet change you for the worse. Come back the same. Come back to me as if you never even left. Come back. Just come back.

(via jlaiii)