I think the hardest part of coming home is realizing that the trip you spent so long looking forward to is suddenly over. There’s something so strange and sad about going from constantly talking about the trip, planning for it, and anticipating what was to come, to suddenly being back home and having it all be a memory. I’ve definitely been feeling the post-travel blues and already find myself itching to plan another trip.
At the same time, I feel incredibly grateful that I got to have this experience in the first place. I recently saw a video that talked about how you can travel far from home and, when you come back, you realize that everything stayed the same except for you. That idea has really stuck with me since coming home, after being away for a month.
I think traveling, taking opportunities, and putting yourself in unfamiliar situations are some of the biggest ways we grow. There is something about being away from everything familiar that forces you to learn more about yourself. Coming home has made me realize that I really do feel different in some ways.
Being part of the Consent Café in India was such a special experience, one that i’ll remember forever. Not only was the work meaningful, but the people I got to share it with made it even more memorable. It was such a unique group of people, and saying goodbye was honestly really sad. It’s strange spending everyday with people to then just being something I have to look back on.
When I think about how much I’ve grown throughout this trip, I’m honestly surprised by myself. When the opportunity to go to India first came up, I was honestly scared. I think a lot of that fear came from stereotypes and unsolicited opinions I had heard from other people, and I realized how easy it would have been to let those opinions shape my decision. Instead, I chose to take a chance and experience India for myself rather than letting other people’s perceptions define it for me. Looking back, I don’t think the version of me from a year ago would have been as willing to take that risk, which makes this experience feel even more meaningful.
This was also the first time I had traveled for longer than a week without my family, which was already outside of my comfort zone. Add going across the world to a country I had never been to before, and it felt like a pretty big leap. We started in Thailand, where we had so much fun and got to see so many different places, and then went straight to India. I wasn’t sure what to expect or how the transition would feel, but India turned out to be so much fun in its own way. It was a different kind of fun, and also felt incredibly rewarding in a way. Getting to teach, connect with people, and hopefully make even a small difference while being surrounded by such an amazing group made the experience so meaningful.
I think one of the biggest ways this trip pushed me was by putting me out of my comfort zone over and over again. We would walk into each school without really knowing who we were going to teach, what the group would be like, or how the lesson would go. There was no way to perfectly prepare for every situation. We just had to walk in with energy, openness, and a willingness to figure it out.
I remember walking into the hospitality college and seeing the students already seated in groups. There was one particularly loud group of boys who were around my age, and I remember thinking, Okay, this is a little intimidating. My instinct could have been to retreat into my shell and be shy. Instead, I went in laughing and with confidence, and it ended up being one of the most fun groups I interacted with. They were energetic, engaged, and genuinely excited to learn. That moment feels like a pretty good representation of what this whole trip taught me.
I’m leaving India with so much gratitude, so many memories, and a much better understanding of myself. I took a risk, stepped outside of what was comfortable, met incredible people, experienced a new culture, taught, learned, and grew. And while it’s sad that this chapter is over, I think that sadness is also proof of how much it meant to me.
Coming home has made me realize that I don’t want to stop taking these kinds of risks. I want to keep saying yes to opportunities that scare me a little. I want to keep traveling, meeting people who see the world differently than I do, and putting myself in situations where I have to grow.