I'm packing all of my clothes, all of my art, furniture and beloved textiles away.
Every day my walls are a little more empty and my living room, more cluttered with boxes.
I love it.
A lot of things about this move have felt at once rushed and too slow, and that's where I am right now. According to my planner I have 14 days until I get on a plane to Tel Aviv, too much time to already be packing everything I own but also so short that I need to quickly buy and arrange everything I can't when I'm overseas.

The closer I get to the move, the less I think I'll be back in the US when I tell people I will.
I've arranged an internship at a newspaper for the winter in Morocco- a place I've always wanted to live which will take me to at least March. Talking to my mother, who is herself packing out for a move to Germany with the State Department, I started considering a move there to teach English after I finish my TEFL. American University here in DC has a distance learning MA in International Relations that I could pursue anywhere in the world with decent internet. That prospect has seriously altered what I'm considering for my future. I can see it, teaching English in Bonn or Amman and taking graduate classes. What better way to learn? It sure beats living in the US on a tight budget and doing the old school university thing...again.

For now, I'm registered for a November GRE in Ramallah. Study tips are welcomed!

Travel planning is like a drug, now that I've begun I refuse to stop adding destinations. I'm not sure I've ever felt so at liberty to chase what matters to me.

This past year in the US has been a long layover between university and adulthood, despite all the "adult" things I committed to doing- job, apartment, happy hours- that's not who I am at 24.

So here I stand, among my boxes, ready to pack them away for a long time.

I feel free.