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Before you get too invested in this piece, I’d like you to know that I have no idea how this story will end. But that’s ok. Sometimes stories that are just beginning are the ones that bring us peace, which is what I’m hoping you’ll feel if you, like me, are taking a leap into the unknown. I always knew I wanted to travel. I suppose a lot of it came from the fact that I, unlike most of my peers, did not know what I want to do with the rest of my life. But I knew I wanted to travel. However at the same time, I didn’t want to visit the Big Ben or Taj Mahal. I didn’t want a photo with a kangaroo in Australia or to jump out the back of a plane over the Caribbean. Sure, if offered, I wouldn’t decline the opportunity. But it didn’t appeal to me. I frankly didn’t see the appeal in travelling halfway around the world to see something I’ve seen a billion times on Instagram. Travelling isn’t cheap nor easy no matter what every travel blogger might tell you. Which is why I’ve always seen it as a privilege, as it should be. With privilege comes responsibility- you are in the lucky 2% of the world who has the money to not only survive but also see the world. You have the responsibility: to see as much as you can; learn from the culture and the people with an open mind; and experience as many things as one could in the amount of time you have. To me travel is about meeting people I wouldn’t otherwise be able to. It’s about witnessing a new way of being and allowing it to change you- just that little bit. So I took a leap into the great big unknown. I decided to leave my sheltered life in New Zealand to travel across to London to start a new life where I could begin my life of travelling with the easy accessibility of Europe just over the border. I quit my job, told my family and friends I was leaving and packed my bags to go off. I’m writing this from my flight to London. I have so many feelings about this. My heart hurts to leave behind everyone I love. I will miss the comforts of living at home; of being surrounded by my support system; and all the comforts of knowing the city I was raised in inside out. When asked if I was excited about the move, the only thing I recall feeling is nausea at the thought of leaving behind everything I know and moving to a country I’ve never been to before. I’m not the only person who’s ever packed their bags and left behind a life, in fact I’m probably not the only one on this flight either. We live in a time of technology where I can apply for jobs online or call my loved ones back home with the touch of a button. I shouldn’t be dramatic. So I sit here, waiting for this plane to touchdown and waiting to see what the future has in store. I hope to live up to everyone’s expectations but at the same time I am aware the only person I’m accountable to is myself. The only way to stay true to myself is to remind myself why I took the leap in the first place. To my future [unhappy] self, You’re sitting there unhappy and wondering why you ever left home and that is normal. You are loved, no matter where you are. You will never be as alone as you might feel. The night is always darkest before the break of dawn. To my future [happy] self, You did it. It was all worth it. To anyone hoping to take a leap, As I said at the beginning of this piece- I have no idea how this might end. The bad thing about leaping into the unknown is the not knowing what the future has in store; but the good thing about leaping into the unknown is also not knowing what the future has in store.