12 Months, 4 Cities: Reflections On A Crazy Year
I have this habit when listening to music: I try to put myself in the shoes of a person described in each song. I think it helps me to appreciate and feel the song more. But it’s caused a problem this past year.
You see, there’s a song by Placebo called “Running Up That Hill” that ended up on my current favorite CD, so I’ve been hearing it a lot. I want to like “Running Up That Hill.” But I can’t. There’s a line in it that goes “If I only could/make a deal with God/and get him to swap our places…” Every time I hear that line, I flip to the next song.
It’s because it doesn’t fit with my habit. I would not swap anything from the last year of my life with anybody.
I’ve spent exactly eight days at home in the past year. That’s only a bit more than a day for every country I’ve been to this year (six). I lived in four different cities, three of which I had never before set foot in, in two continents, each for neat nearly equal 3-month intervals. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
To recap, I spent the spring completing sophomore year at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.; the summer interning with the Reno Gazette-Journal in Reno, Nev.; the fall studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain and the winter working for The Seattle Times in Seattle, Wash.
Now I am driving home, at this very moment sitting in the passenger seat of a minivan that has not been off the road for more than 10 minutes in nearly 30 hours.
The 2,250-mile drive from Seattle to West Lafayette (my twin brother David and I are on mile 1,894 right now) has left me a lot of time to think. A lot of time to reflect.
I’ve learned an incredible amount in the past year. Many of these life lessons have been relayed on this blog. I don’t have room to detail all over them now, but I would like to elaborate on one:
About a month into my time in Seattle, I went to lunch with an acquaintance. Just before desert, he asked me what was the most surprising thing about Seattle up until then. I thought for a moment and then replied that the most surprising thing was that Seattleites are exactly the same as people in Evanston, Indiana, Reno, and yes, Spain.
I think my lunch partner was a little taken aback. After all, we all like to think that we are unique. And we are, of course. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my travels, it’s that we as humans are more alike than different, regardless of location or language. Because of this, I’ve found it’s extremely important to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and think about how they feel.
But I’d like to focus on myself (that’s no surprise) and how the last year has changed me. Certainly everybody changes every year. But I think there is something especially changing about traveling, especially alone. I think there’s something especially changing about confronting new cultures. I think there’s something especially changing about creating an identity for yourself in a new place. And then doing it again. And again.
It’s no big secret to my friends that last spring was my worst quarter at Northwestern – certainly academically and probably personally as well.
I drove out of Evanston last June exhausted, nervous, yes a little hung over, and most of all, not knowing what to expect.
The nine months that followed were some of the best of my life. I saw the world. I somehow managed to put aside my workaholic tendencies and enjoy three months of fun in Spain (surprising some of my friends). I did work hard, and I found success. I reaffirmed my desire to do newspaper journalism, and I proved to myself that I can do it.
This is just the beginning, of course. Even my traveling tendencies aren’t yet over. After returning to Evanston for spring quarter, I’ll almost immediately head for Washington, DC for an internship in the DC bureau of the Orange County Register.
But for now, I’m excited to return to Northwestern later this week. Through all of my travels, I couldn’t shake my desire to play Hover Disc on South Beach and eat Buffalo Chicken Wraps in Norris.
All that stands in my way of that are some final preparations. It should be no problem. I’ve gotten pretty good at packing.
