All stamped up

  This, ladies and gentlemen (do boys even read this blog? Doubtful. Except for F - shout out for being a rocking husband! Whew, I digress..) is my passport. Isn't she a beaut?

The passport is filled with stamps and documentation,

and a picture of me right after I learned to straighten my hair. (Shield your eyes.)

More than that though, it's filled with reminders of some of the best times of my life. 

I page through it every now and again feeling incredibly blessed to have traveled to faraway places -  Ireland, Mexico, Paris, Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Venice, Brugges, Amsterdam, Holland, London.

Remembering the smells, the twisted roads, the uneven cobblestones, the flowers and windmills, the bridges, the people, the transportation, the languages and accents, the sights, the sounds, the crowds,

the street names.

I see the stamps and try to remember the Customs people who put them there. Were they crabby, pleasant, suspecting, curious? Did they ask about  my travels or avoid eye contact altogether? 

I think of how these adventures that shaped my life and widened my horizons are documented only by mere stamps and wild memories. 

 

I see my student visa from studying and working abroad and remember the mounds of paperwork, expensive overnight shipping costs, and how many times I almost thought, "This is too much work."

And, then I'm all wrapped up in the feeling I had when I was there. 

"I did this. I made this happen. I'm living my bucket list."

Nothing like it.

Nothing that makes my heart beat fast quite like travel. Being somewhere completely new and yet familiar. I'm always struck that the places that are a world away from me are home to the people there. That the people walking around me all have stories to tell, have fallen in love, sigh when bills come in the mail, and have bad hair days. 

This passport and I - we had a good run. 

Since my name changed when we got married, it needs to be replaced. 

Hopefully with one that gets even more stamps and a better photo to boot (fingers crossed).

One that has just as exciting a story to tell.

images: hilaryclair (special thanks to TW for the passport background)