The other side of the world

My mom is a 10 hour time change away. My grandparents 9. My in-laws are a 7 hour time difference from us. My best friend 6 or 4, depending on day light savings in the northern and southern hemispheres. I've got friends or family in all 4 hemispheres and all 6 inhabitable continents. I'm always on the other side of the world from someone I love.

My husband teases me for the name of this blog. Maybe it sounds obvious. A quick google search probably results in 10 other blogs with the same exact name. But it fits me. When I wake up and check Facebook in the morning, all my North and South American friends have posted. When I come home from work, all my European, African and Asian friends have posted. Someone is always online. Someone is always awake. Someone is always asleep. Someone is always on the other side of the world. And that is cool. (Except when I need to call my mom and it's her middle of the night.)

I like being on the other side of the world because it means that no matter where I go, someone is always there. And it means that someone is always on this side of the world too.

Travel is fatal.

The longer I'm away from my home country, the more places I go, the more people I meet and the more conversations I have... this rings more true: My world view has changed and continues to change.

My view of myself. My view of my country. My view of religion and wealth and stereotypes. All these things have changed because I chose to travel. I have lived new places. I've had new jobs. I have worked with people from all over the world.

And I'm so grateful I did! Because these experiences have made me more open-minded, more accepting, more hopeful that people all over the world are really the same. We're all people - wanting the best for those we love, wanting peace and love and hope. And I am proud to be a person on this planet who has experienced the fatality travel brings.