"Where In the World is Cynthia?"

If you go to Barnes and Nobles and play the popular game "Where In the World is Cynthia?," you will find me in the Travel Essays section.  I love reading about how others percieve traveling to foreign places.  It gives me a sense of adventure and makes me want to throw my cell phone out the window, pack a backpack, and hop on the next plane to somewhere exotic. In Elizabeth Gilbert's #1 New York Times Bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, a medicine man tells her, "...you must stop looking at the world through your head.  You must look through your heart, instead. That way, you will know God."  In my opinion, the only way to travel is to always look through your heart and breathe in every single moment.

‎"You smell the sea and you feel the sky, let your soul and spirit fly..."

Once again, I had another eye opening weekend.  I was able to see some friends, I learned a lot about myself, and I slept...a lot.  Throughout these two simple days, I learned that I am not the same person I used to be a few weeks ago.  I woke up Sunday morning, sat on a stranger's porch, and found myself lost in my thoughts.  Holding a mug of water, while everyone was still asleep, I thought to myself, "I cannot wait to move to some place new."  I also realized I hate finding myself on the same porches, with similar thoughts, throughout my life. 

I look at traveling and moving to a new place as an adventure.  I search inside myself for the common emotion of fear, but all I can find these days is excitement.  During a recent job interview, I was asked how I felt moving to a new town.  I answered, "Truthfully, I see it as an exciting adventure."  The employer sounded surprised by my answer. 

My next destination, Korcula.

I have decided to buy a plane ticket to Croatia. I have always wanted to travel to Europe, specifically Croatia, since I was a child. I am finally buying a ticket to my dream. I am planning on leaving in September and coming back to the States sometime in October. I will be meeting part of my family for the first time, enjoying conversation and laughter with them, and learning a lot more about myself. I hope to feel the sunshine kiss my skin, smell the salty ocean air, and fly...

"Knocking down all my walls, opening up all my doors..."

I had an amazing July 4th weekend!  I spent the weekend at a friend's river house surrounded by friends, laughter, and good food.  I smiled, laughed, and felt like I was glowing from the inside out.  Oh how I have missed the pure sunshine and the water! 

I feel as if I am getting back to the person I wanted to be when I returned from Mexico, which includes me telling everyone I see about conservation biology and current environmental issues.  I love my summer job, the people I work with, and this is turning out to be one of the best summers I have ever had in Virginia.  However, I know I will be ready for the next chapter of my life very soon.  I am applying to jobs in Hawaii, Washington, Maryland, Florida, the Gulf States, and more.  I am grabbing hold of every opportunity I find with both hands and an open mind.  I asked Jake Baja where he wanted to move to tonight.  He just twisted his head, looked at me, and proceeded to grab his bone and continue to chew on it.  I'll take that as, "Anywhere that has a bone for me to chew on!"

"Something is changing inside me, something here just wants to break free."

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I lived in the past for so long, that for a few brief months, I forgot how to live in the present. 

I spent four short months of my live in a small town called Puerto San Carlos, B.C.S., Mexico.  These four months were what I thought was the zenith, climax, high point of my life.  When I left the United States to live in a small palapa roof cabana near Magdalena Bay, I did not have a place that I called "home."  Yes, there was my parent's house that they recently moved into and my college campus, but nothing fit the word "home" to me.  I once told a friend, "Home is where the heart is."  After four months in San Carlos, I came back to the United States.  In next to no time, I discovered that I may have left my heart back in San Carlos. 

The New Year has began and I frequently find myself lost in my own thoughts.  I am realizing that life is a journey to find that one true place to call "home."  I would love to go back to San Carlos right now, but I think I need to find my home here first before I can visit San Carlos.  Therefore, I am applying to dozens of jobs and I am planning on traveling as often as possible when I graduate in May 2010.  I adopted a puppy over the summer, Jake Baja.  Even though at times I feel he holds me back from applying to certain jobs or living in different countries, it is nice to know that I will always have a companion with me on this journey.  Plus, he makes me smile so effortlessly.

It has snowed like never before on my college campus.  I have been snowed in with my friends and have loved every second.  We have laughed together, relaxed, watched movies, played guitar and sang duets, enjoyed a few beers, and we have simply talked to one another.  I woke up this morning and found myself in a winter wonderland.  I took in a deep pure breath of happiness and smiled.  I believe this is going to be an amazing last semester...and an amazing journey.