I told her to come visit me in the UK when she expressed the desire to travel like I was, and she said that she would. She said that when she is 55, she wants to begin traveling. She explained that at that point, she’d be ready in every part of her life to travel and see the world because she won’t have small children, and she’ll have some money saved up, etc. Her main reason for traveling so late is the children. She told me she didn’t regret them at all, but to always make sure I was completely ready to give up much of my free time to raise kids before I had any. She said at that point in her life, her youngest daughter Cora, who is 5 months old right now, will be 20 and pretty much stable enough to support herself when my aunt decides she wants to travel. It was so weird to hear her say that because I was merely 18 when Cora was born. I would be 38 years old when my aunt began traveling the world. 38 when Cora turned 20. And then not long after, only a few months, I would be turning 39. 

I started to think about where I’d be in life. What I’d be doing. Would I be married? I hope so, one day. Who would I be married to? Where would I be living? Will I have gotten to see the world like I had planned? Where would I be working? Will I have done everything that I set out to do? Will I have met anyone that had a substantial impact on my life? All of these questions and so many more flooded my thoughts. Sometimes I would really like a glimpse into the future. I’m too anxious to see how things end up, and yet not quite ready to grow up just yet. You just never know how or where you’ll end up.

After all, the world is a pretty big place.