seventeen soccer balls

Two weeks ago I began a 7-day, 1300-mile camping trip. I spent my days driving through mountains, scrambling over rocks and playing in creeks. I spent my nights eating camp food, drinking good beer and taking in my surroundings. And best of all, I got paid to do all of that. I won’t go in to what exactly I was doing because most of you will 1. make fun of me for being a geo geek, 2. find that really boring, and 3. because I could write an entire blog dedicated just to my geologic exploits, but I will say that if you want the best job ever, then you should become a geologist.

After an exhausting week in Virginia’s back country I returned to Williamsburg, packed up my apartment, said “see ya later” to some of my closest friends and made the familiar drive to northern Virginia one more time. Then I had one week to get my visa and pack for South Africa. The quest for my visa was miserable. Have you ever played a game with a four-year-old? One of those games that they make up where no matter what you do they always win? And even when you play by the rules and copy their every move, you still can’t catch a break? Well getting a visa is worse. There was blood, there was sweat, and there was almost even a bribe, and still my visa was denied.

Then there was packing. And because my parents are beginning a large construction project on our house I didn’t just have to pack for South Africa, but I also had to pack up my entire room. 17 soccer balls, 22 boxes and 3 suitcases later, I was packed. I thought it was very fitting that I found 17 soccer balls in my room. Some were gifts from old coaches, others from kids that I had coached, and still others I had a weird emotional attachment to… I saved 7 and donated the rest to my friend’s service trip.

The rest of my stuff went into 22 boxes and 3 suitcases. 21 years of my life fit in to just 22 boxes and 3 suitcases. It’s a little sad because it made me realize just how small and insignificant I am. But mostly, I looked at those 22 boxes and got really excited because they, more than anything, helped me realize that I am at a point in my life where I have no attachments to anything. I can go just about anywhere and do just about anything that I want to, and I am really excited to be doing just that!

So, after 7 days camping, 3 days packing, 17 soccer balls, 22 boxes, 3 suitcases and 1 highway drive, I left Virginia. I spent one more night with my family in Massachusetts swapping stories, eating pizza and watching the Sox game. Oh, and my visa came. All in all, it was a good way to end a great summer.