From the Thames to Texas

My countdown to home has officially begun.

As the number of days I have left in Oxford grow shorter, the list of things to do when I get home has grown ever longer. Like eat copious amounts of barbecue, Mexican food, and fried chicken (sorry KFC, you just don’t cut it). And take long, aimless drives around my hometown with the windows rolled down and music blaring. As much as I have loved walking everywhere, I have missed those solo concerts in the driver’s seat when I’m stuck at a stoplight.

When I left the U.S. to travel around the globe, I thought that I would never want to come back, because my heart would always be somewhere else. Yet traveling has compelled within me a deeper appreciation for what I have, rather than what I am missing.

I felt as much when I was returning from my trip to Portugal yesterday. I did not realize how much of an impact Oxford had made on me, nor how deeply engrained it had become as my “home," until the idea of returning made my heart leap with joy. As much fun as going to new places and creating new experiences can be, there is something comforting about the place you call home. I can't even imagine what it will feel like to return to Texas.

Although a stunningly gorgeous country, Portugal's beauty is a completely different flavor than that of France and Germany. While the latter are steeped in tailored elegance, from the architecture to the food to the people, Portugal has a rugged brilliance that seems to be made of happenstance rather than delicately structured planning. From sea caves surrounded by crashing, powerful waves to rolling hills dotted with white stucco houses, every inch of Portugal rejects the western ideal of wealth and civilization. Yet the people there still take immense pride in what they do, from the taxi driver to the woman who makes pottery. Portugal is comfortably and unapologetically itself.

 

I, too, have become comfortably and unapologetically myself through my time abroad.

It is as though, before I came, I was living in a shoe that was too big for my foot. But through my time in Oxford, I have grown until that shoe now fits snugly, comfortably, and without any possibility of slipping and sliding.

I am excited to try the new fit back home in Texas.