when not in rome

Four planes. Twenty-three trains. (Seemingly infinite) subways. One charter bus. One car. One ferry. Two feet. Eleven countries. Sixteen cities. Zero tourist-trap souvenirs. One thousand, four hundred photos. The end.

There is little time to process this adventure, as the speed of the United States grabs a hold of me once again (weddings, moving, business, car, cell phone, meetings, TPS reports, etc). It would be nearly impossible to write a neat little essay or create a power-point presentation to package this abstract journey.

There are life-changing events, but they are a minority amongst the seemingly mundane tasks of everyday life. While all experiences affect us--some move us closer to the person we were intended to be, others move us further away--we will never "arrive.” If we think we have, we're only pretending.

Instead, the majority of our lives are spent in the proverbial refining fire; we are never finished. It's this work-in-progress hope that fills this life with excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead, even when we're not in Rome.