Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still -Chinese Proverb

It's 9:30 am on a Monday and here I am, sitting at the office with a black coffee by my side and I'm having serious trouble keeping my eyes open.  All I can think about is that I only have 2 weeks left of work until I'm back in my beloved London.  London means freedom.  I'm also dreading that my younger brother comes home today from his Eurotrip.  Don't get me wrong, I love him more than anything else on this planet, but while he was living the dream on the other side, I was here, working like a dog and still have nothing to show for it.  I'm extremely jealous of the summer he's had. This summer has made me realize that I am so sick and tired of trying to do the right thing, or pleasing other people; from now on, I'll do what I want, when I want-whether it be a good idea or a bad idea; you know what they say:  no regrets, just lessons learned. Or in my case, ride debt for as long as I can, I have my whole life to pay it off; plus I'm only young once. Consider this: I could be working as a bartender in Croatia, or a server on ranch in Calgary.  But, no, no, not me, I listened to the voice of reason...my mother. I stayed here; although it wasn't a complete waste of time; I feel like I did some self improvement and some growing up.  So, today I have decided to let you all in on my life plan, my reasons behind it and give you some insight to the person that defines me.  I compiled a list of places I'd like to visit by next August; I also included my after graduation plans.  

The List

New York

Belize

Mexico

Guatemala 

Honduras

El Salvador

Nicaragua 

Costa Rica

Panama 

Venezuela 

Columbia

Ecuador

Peru

Bolivia

Chile

Argentina

Uruguay

Paraguay

Brazil

Spain

Croatia

Italy

Greece

Goals for After I graduate:

Southeast Asia

Africa

For those of you who don't already know, I'm moving to Belize in January for school.  I'll be there for 4 months.  In those 4 months, I want to see all of Central America and do as much as possible.  My best friend,  Jessica (whom I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about) will be meeting me in Columbia at the beginning of May.  Together, we're backpacking all the way through South America.  Not bad for a first time back packing trip eh?  Meanwhile, my roommate has decided we're going to yacht week in Ibiza.  This means we'll be booking as soon as possible.  From Ibiza, we can make our way to Croatia, where I have a home, then to Italy and finally to Greece.  This will be our Graduation trip.  Cancun is in the works for reading week; we're not sure if we're going to make it that far-fingers crossed though.  I guess working this summer hasn't been completely in vain, after all, with all the travelling I have planned, I'm going to need they money and it did inspire this blog.  

Ultimately, my goal is to hit up every continent before I'm 30.  I want to spend my life travelling and helping people.  I know that sounds cliche and perhaps overly ambitious, but its what I want to do.  In the past, my trips were family orientated.  I've travelled in the past as well, but it was a trip down south to Mississippi that changed my answer to WHY I love to travel.  I was down there building houses with Habitat for Humanity, when a man stopped me in the street to thank me for the my contribution to his community and how thankful he was for people like us.  I don't know if it was his southern accent, or maybe the tears swelling up in his eyes, but I knew right then and there, this was the kinda stuff I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  Belize is going to be for educational purposes, but I'm going to try and get to El Salvador for another build for reading week.  While we're going through South America, I plan on volunteering where we can.  Once I'm back and graduated, I want to teach English is Southeast Asia and then make my way to Africa, and help build communities and educate women.  I'd be lying if I said it was going to be all work and no play, everyone loves a good party, especially me. 

Plans change though, so we'll see where I end up.   

Anyways, I really should get to work.  

Peace and Love.  

***stay tuned; epic weekend plans ahead***