Vacation Hangover
It's been a while since I've had a real vacation. When I say "real vacation" I mean being gone for a significant amount of time (not just for a weekend) and pretty much unwinding and disconnecting from the regular everyday world that I'm use to. I'm not only jet-lagged but also going through a Vacation Hangover. I don't even want to think about what Monday (tomorrow) has to offer. Especially with this weird Houston weather we are having, please take me back to the beach!!
You would think that as many times as I've traveled and said good bye to family and friends, this would just be another "see you later." I was honestly taken aback by myself when my eyes just welled up with tears thinking of all the people I was leaving behind. The only thing that kept running through my mind was: "I can't wait another 5-6 years to see these people again."
I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older, or because of all the "live life moment by moment" I've been practicing throughout 2016, but this was the hardest goodbye for me to date. I went on this trip as a different person. This time around it wasn't just going on different adventures, it was actual bonding on our mini excursions. Getting to know my cousins from hearing their stories of their daily grind and taking in who they are by just simply being in their presence. As eager as I am to get back to my "American life," I didn't want to leave them behind. I think the thought of knowing where I was headed and where I was leaving the people I loved behind was what got me the most.
A lot has happened since the last time I went to the Philippines. I remembered praying hard for a job. Since then, I worked at Maxim for 3 years, bought a car, started a business that is coming to its 3rd year and I moved out with BJ into a dreamy apartment. Seeing my cousins and relatives in the Philippines, it seems as if nothing really has changed for them, as if I have no idea what has happened to them during this time. Of the 6 years that I last saw them, so much has happened and I don't want to live another 6 more years without having experiencing life together. I want to know all their ups and downs as well as ours.
Ending 2016 and starting 2017 with my family in the Philippines was the recharge I needed to get me started for the upcoming year. Thank you for the memories, the laughs and your presence that allowed me to have the best Holiday Vacation ever! I'm very blessed to live this life with the strongest support system you can imagine.
See ya'll again real soon!