With the
year coming to an end, I always find myself looking back over and remembering
the past twelve months. 2016 was a challenging year for me on a personal level,
for my country, and really for the world. I essentially cheated death down in
South America this summer- I’ve heard from multiple people that they thought I
was going to die. It took two weeks of being tied to a hospital bed, and
literally months of regular doctor visits, strong medication, and “taking it
easy” to recover. There are repercussions of that health mess that I actually
still notice to this day- the bad case of shingles I had caused neuropathy in
my feet that I still feel daily. Not to mention my left arm is still weaker
than it was before those surgeries in Colombia. But this summer still gave me
my first experience of living in the third world, and it was certainly eye
opening. Those precious few weeks taught me to appreciate all that we have here
in the states, and not take anything for granted. As I said in my last blog
post, we don’t get to choose where we’re born. The people I encountered this
summer didn’t ask to be from the third world- I didn’t ask to be from the first
world. I just got lucky I guess, and that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Even
the simplest things we have here, like clean drinking water, isn’t guaranteed
in other parts of the world.
But 2016 was
a challenging year on a much bigger scale as well. The world lost a lot of
great people. My country feels more divided than it ever has, at least in my
lifetime. And the political tension isn’t just here in the US, but all over the
world- my friends on the other side of the pond whose minds are still blown by
the Brexit vote, I’m looking at you. By the way, those invitations to come stay
with you for the next four years are still in force, right?
It hasn’t
all been bad, though. The past week or so has been full of nostalgia, not only
for events of this year, but the past several years of my life. One of the main
topics of my blog is travel- it’s what I love, it’s what makes me feel alive
more than just about anything else, it’s something I never want to stop doing.
Summer 2014 was life changing for me because it was my first experience
traveling solo, and my first time being away from my friends and family for an
extended period of time. In the time since I left home to spend that summer
working in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, I’ve learned and changed a
lot. I’ve done things that I never thought I’d be brave enough to do. I’ve gone
to the edge of that cliff and taken the plunge off into the freezing cold Gros
Ventre River. I’ve had an Andean bear pluck grapes out of my bare (no pun
intended) hands. I’ve had baboons and spider monkeys climb all over me, knowing
they could rip my face off if they wanted to. I’ve sat on a riverbank and
watched a beautiful bull elephant cross that river, close enough that I could
hear the water splashing at his feet. I’ve climbed along the precarious cliffs
of Hermanus to find Devil’s Cave, and nearly got swept out of it at high tide.
I’ve watched massive great white sharks swim inches from my face. I’ve put my
trust, and in some cases, my life, in the hands of strangers. I’ve paid five
bolivianos (less than one US dollar) for a ride along one of the world’s most
dangerous roads, hoping that the driver knew which turns were the sharpest,
knowing how easy it would be to lose control for an instant and plummet off the
edge of the mountain, as hundreds of people do every year. The past few years
have been an insane adventure, and I wouldn’t change them for the world.
New Year’s
is, of course, also a time to look ahead at what the next year will bring. In
February I’ll be heading back to South Africa, my favorite place in the world,
to swim with great white sharks again. I absolutely cannot wait to be back in
Cape Town, hearing the strong South African accent, feeling the ocean breeze on
my face, seeing the stunning natural beauty that country has. 2016, you were
tough in many ways, but, as every year is, you’re a stepping-stone to what’s next.
There’s a lot of uncertainty here in the world as this year comes to a close,
but life will continue. Maybe not in that same way that it has been, but 2016
isn’t the end of the world- that was 2012, remember?
This post’s food for thought: “You
may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me in
the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.”- Maya Angelou
