In just under two weeks, we’re getting on a plane. We’re saying goodbye and jetting off to Thailand for a bit and then on home (via long layovers in Tokyo and Los Angeles). I’ve gone through this all before. The goodbyes, the silent desperation to cling to anything that truly means “home”, the hastily planned lunches and dinners, the heaviness of last looks. But I hadn’t expected to have to endure it all again. Sure, I knew I would eventually return home for a bit, but I thought that I’d get out relatively unscathed. And I knew that Dale would accompany me on my next departing flight from Australia. But I was blindsided by the sadness of leaving again.

I didn’t exactly feel like I soared in my last nine months here since leaving the nest. That in itself was a wake up call for me. But just as I was standing back up, dusting myself off, and getting ready to walk out the door, I was invited further in. Acquaintances and sort-of friends suddenly became staples in my weekly routine. Girl time over healthy lunches (usually involving avocado in some form) happened. Conversations of shared hopes and dreams took place. Drinks were had and inside jokes were shared. I got close and now it hurts.

Above all else, my time in Australia has taught me the importance of community. Of not being alone. Of having that support system in place. One of my favorite movies, About a Boy, uses that exact premise. The main character, Will, was just floating along in life until it’s shaken up by a boy, Marcus, who needs him. Will’s life is never the same and he is the better for it. I always took my support system back home for granted. But now I don’t. I now have two communities. Two homes in two hemispheres. My life will never be fully, 100% in one place again. And I am the better for it, no matter how much it hurts.

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No, Shea, you’re just doing the dishes. Calm down.

I love just looking at it and moving my finger ever so slightly to see the sparkles gleaning from diamonds. I now absentmindedly spin it around with my thumb. It makes me smile to know that I get to wear it for the rest of my life. It’s my ring.

But it’s what the ring symbolizes that brings the most comfort to me. It means that I get to marry my very best friend. My closest companion. My adventure buddy. The man I’ve been in love with for longer than I can recall at this point. The one who, for whatever reason, told me years ago that he thought we were soul mates even though we were just friends on the opposite sides of the earth who had never met in real life.

I get to choose to marry him every day. I get to have a sleepover every night with my bestie. We get to find new ways to make each other laugh. We get to struggle through life in situations we’ve never been in before. We get to grow and dream and plan. We get to figure it out together.

I’d never been one to plan my dream wedding as a little girl. To my recollection, I’d never even daydreamed about it. No visions of the perfect wedding dress, venue, flowers, or cake ever crossed my mind. Wait, I take that back. When I was about 14 years old I saw a beautiful white cake on the cover of a magazine and I kept it in my memory. So yeah… I planned the food part of my wedding. Figures.

It wasn’t until I went through a wedding (through the motions, I should say) that I discovered what my dream wedding would be. It would not be a stiff, painfully impersonal traditional wedding with a guest list so long that I would question whether or not they were related or wedding crashers. And there wouldn’t be balloons that my mom sneakily ordered for a little more decoration. No endless combination of family portraits and smiling so much my cheeks are too tired to talk. And, most importantly, there would be so much food that I would get to eat, damnit.

Which brings me to this wedding. The one that will take place the second week of August in the end of this Australian winter. The small one being held in our living room that will probably be decked out in fairy lights and candles. The guests will be close family and friends and some of them will watch via Skype from thousands of miles away in the middle of the night. We are foregoing a wedding cake in favor of our favorite donuts. I’m making the food. There will be lots of it. Ample amounts so that even I can eat this time around.

But most importantly, there will be a man waiting for me as I walk down the aisle. There will be vows from our hearts and two rings. A man that I will live the rest of my life with. My whole world will be right there in that moment. And I cannot wait.

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This is how I could travel the world.

Up to that point, if anyone had asked me what I would do with my life, no holds barred, I would have said “traveling photographer” without stopping to think. But I didn’t know what that meant. Other than the fabled and highly sought-after careers had by National Geographic photographers, I didn’t even know if it existed. In fact, the furthest reaches of my imagination could only envision the image of a newly checked-in travel-weary me plopping a well-worn suitcase on the bed in a low budget hotel room, grabbing my camera, and rushing out the door to some adventure I was certain would materialize.

But the answer was right in front of me.

I could get paid (or at the very least break even) to travel anywhere in the world, if only I knew enough about photography to teach a workshop.

My life completely changed course from that epiphany. The rest of my night, well into the early morning hours, consisted of information overload. I relentlessly searched for any information I could find on landscape photography, photography in general, online schools, free tutorials, and everything in between. Occasionally I would take a break from all my searching just to stop and admire pictures of the beautiful landscapes that were out there waiting for me to photograph. This was going to be my ticket to seeing the world not only on my terms, but well before I retired from whatever miserable career path I had yet to settle upon. As I reluctantly went to sleep that night, still wishing I could stay glued to my laptop in that sort of over-stimulated, desperate, sleep-deprived way, my mind wound down with fantasies of my globe-trotting, sunrise-waking, mountain-climbing, tripod-toting self and I swear happiness radiated from me for months afterward.

Fast forward three years and nine months later, I had another epiphany. Well, sort of an epiphany. No, it was an epiphany, but not quite like before. More like an awakening epiphany. A sensible, guarded, cautious, but optimistic-all-the-same, epiphany. And it started with YouTube.

I had shelved the dreams of leading photography workshops as a solid back up plan because, ultimately, I let life get in my way. I had started to live for immediate comfort, rather than nurturing my longing in a feasible way. I had indeed taught myself as much about photography as I could… devouring books, tutorials, and workshops; as well as hanging on every word of advice any respected photographer cast my way. I even returned to school and earned a degree in fine art photography. My dreams of traveling the world never dissolved, they just faded at times. Like a constant, dull ache that was simultaneously uncomfortable and comforting that would flare up at the slightest mention of a trip by anyone I knew. I contented myself with the knowledge that I at least had a dream yet chose to cover up the fact that I wasn’t pursuing it with the excuse of not knowing how. And that’s where YouTube was my saving grace. Or the gateway, at least.

On a recent afternoon, I found myself taking a break from some much needed soul searching by watching GoPro videos of South East Asian vacations that left me wanting for an escape from my newly-found blah. And then one video entitled “What to Pack for Long Term Travel” was suggested. I thought I had a good idea of what to pack for long term travel, but due to my limited experience I was curious as to what I might improve upon so I watched it. I eventually followed the user’s profile back to her blog and quickly found her monthly spending reports, which had finally begun to demystify long-term travel for me. It’s easy to buy into online programs that sell you the dreams of eternal travel, hell, even I had, but in all my wanderlust-fueled searches on the subject, I had never found anything as tangible as an honest-to-goodness budget report.

After more digging and following more leads in this network of well-informed and much experienced globe trotting bloggers, the deep-belly rumble of my mischievous optimism emerged. This, I thought, this might actually be the real answer. To be location independent and still make a livable income. Blogging for a living. Writing about my experiences. Networking with a myriad of other bloggers. I can do this, I thought.

I mulled it over for a few days before I even told a single soul. Not because I was afraid no one would support me, but because I have grown to truly hate failing/quitting/giving up/hating what I profess as my new dream. I disappoint myself. I realize I learn from every situation I put myself in, but constantly starting over a new career path or a new dream is exhausting. But I have a good, clear vision with this new venture. And most of all, I have hope. This could be how I travel the world.

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I boxed up nearly all of my possessions, donated a large portion of my clothes and stored the rest for winter and my eventual return home, took two weeks to say goodbye to everyone I know, and got on the plane.

Putting it that way makes it seem like it was easy. To be honest, I’m not sure if it was easy and I knew what I was doing or if I put my mind and emotions on autopilot to make room for the unknown. October may have been the most emotionally trying month of my life. I had to say goodbye to a very special woman in my life who left us quite suddenly. The weeks I spent between her passing and me leaving were filled with putting as much effort as possible into savoring the life I live and the people in it. I interviewed each one of my mom’s siblings individually as part of a personal video project I’ll be working on for the next year or so. I stuffed myself on so many goodbye lunches, dinners, and drinks that I almost hoped they didn’t have any food in Australia. I took Lacey, the pug I love quite unconditionally, for many walks and we explored parts of my parents’ property that we had never seen before. I watched the World Series with my dad and started to like baseball for the first time ever. I bundled up against the cold to help my mom feed her horses at night. I spent time hanging out with my 16 year-old brother, watching the new Walking Dead episodes every week, screaming and squirming right beside him.

I lived life harder.

I burst into tears as I said goodbye to Lacey the morning I left. And again when my mom and her friends walked me to the security line in Boise. It was like ripping off a bandaid. I had made my decision and I had to go for it. I couldn’t not do it.

I got on the plane.

A high school friend picked me up in Los Angeles for dinner during my layover. We went to a restaurant in Manhattan Beach and I met his girlfriend for the first time. After dinner we walked to the pier and it was incredibly surreal to remember the last time I had seen the Pacific ocean months ago I and how I felt I was going home to the wrong side of it and had actually burst into tears mid-flight. And that night I was flying back to the correct side to be next to the person I belonged with.

After a one-hour delay in our departure from LAX due to having to switch to a smaller plane last minute, and a semi-torturous 15 hour flight that I mostly slept through, I arrived in Melbourne on a breezy, cool sunny spring morning. I couldn’t turn around and run back home. Partly because I sure as hell didn’t want to endure another 24 hours of travel but mostly because I was at peace with where I was. I had flown the nest in a very big way and landed exactly where I was supposed to be.

In the ten or so years we’ve known each other, Dale and I had never done particularly well in life if we had fallen out of touch. I can’t help but wonder if October might have been better if he had been around but the moment I saw him at the arrivals gate made everything worth it. All of the goodbyes and the tears. The fears vanished. I was back in Australia but more importantly finally back with him and ready to start our new adventures together.

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I have heard repeatedly that I need to keep in touch via Facebook when I’m gone. But why? I never posted anything on there anyway, and had long since stopped posting new photos thanks to Facebook’s questionable copyright and user policies. In some instances, the people who have suggested I keep in touch have failed to notice my absence thus, which I find highly amusing in and of itself.

I have in fact spent the past couple of hours on Facebook and I started with the intention of deleting my old photos before I requested to permanently delete my account. I was immediately sucked into reading my news feed and after about 20-30 minutes of scrolling, I gained only four bits of information that could realistically be used to start a conversation in real life. The birth of two babies, a friend who has an in-law moving in with them, and another family is moving.

Out of hundreds of posts and memes and photos of children who will never know a life without social media, two babies were born and two people are moving.

When I read that the one family was moving, I was hit with that familiar punch in the gut. Ever since I graduated high school I have only ever experienced dear loved ones leaving. To school, for a job, on church missions, dying. I have never been on the leaving side until now. To feel both positions starkly contrasted side by side was a little unnerving. Since my decision to move, I hadn’t been able to recall that feeling of being left. That emptiness that only shows its head when the familiar changes and that loss makes itself known. Until this evening when I felt it again. But ultimately, I know this move to Australia is the right thing for me and that deep, resounding knowledge is what has kept me moving forward this whole time.

My next stop was to delete every post and photograph from my photography business account. As I was eliminating old posts, it brought back some heavy feelings of defeat that I had experienced while trying so hard to engage an audience that I doubt even existed. I was reminded of that struggle all over again as the numbers stared me in the face. It was a crushing time for me, and I believe that it stifled my creativity by being more concerned with what would get more “likes” instead of focusing inward and deciding if I even liked my work. It’s truly overwhelming to try gaining acceptance and encouragement from low, impersonal numbers. Square peg, round hole.

It has been empowering, and incredibly appropriate in my opinion, to sift through my old photos and posts and recall the life I had, some of the people who were in it that do not have a place anymore, and to hit the delete button. To shed off these layers of the person I was once but no longer am. A metaphor for starting fresh. I would much rather build my relationships and any business I may have some day the old-fashioned way with face to face contact, sincere letters and emails, and very occasional photos of life’s happenings… probably printed on real paper so that they make us take a moment and pause and the wonder of once again holding something tangible and precious.

The following video was one that I had completely forgotten about until I was deleting the very first posts from my photography business site. It was posted, appropriately, with much passion and optimism. I want to get back to that person.

Days until I leave: 12

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As you might imagine, being a girl means that I have a lot of clothes. But really, if you knew me, you wouldn’t think that makes sense. I’ve always been more tomboy than not and I couldn’t dress a mannequin in a store even if you handed me the clothes. I’m girl dumb.

But no, I do have a lot of clothes. I mean, a lot. At least a couple hundred pieces. Not everything fits me, some I keep for sentimental value, and some I just plain never wear at all. I have dresses I’ve worn only once, if at all. Pants that only get worn when I work. Clothes that have been given to me that I would’ve never in a million years picked for myself. Obviously, a two bag limit restricts me from packing up my entire wardrobe and taking it with me. Which is a good thing. The very first thing I did in preparation for moving was to sort through all my clothes. Despite it taking two and a half days and having to persevere through a terrible cold…

It was liberating.

Considering what I started with, my “keep” pile is really quite admirable. It also helped that many of the heavy winter clothes that I need to survive a bitter Idaho winter will never be remotely needed in sub-tropical Australia. Cleaning out my closet and losing a bit of the old me is not only a very appropriate metaphor, but it just feels good to have less clutter. I want, nay, crave a simple life with very little material possessions.

In fact, many of my things are in storage from the last two times I moved. I realized a long time ago that, aside from some very specific books, I couldn’t tell you half of what is in the boxes. And what’s more, I obviously don’t need or miss any of those things until I see them again and I think my only real attachment to them is the sentimental value. Many of the things in my room are just knick knacks and space-consumers. I really look forward to continuing the declutteration of my life as I move forward. Because really, I can’t take it with me when I go.

Days until I leave: 20.

Only about two thirds of the way through.

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