I sat down to write what I am thankful for. I got stuck. I sat at my keyboard staring at a blank screen, asking myself where do I start? After 30 minutes of writing, I deleted everything. Nothing I could write could explain the deep gratitude I have felt this year. I turned to Josh and asked him to help. How can I narrow down in a few paragraphs everything we have been blessed with. Some things I don’t even know how to explain, the feeling of freedom and happiness that I have experienced, along with the lessons of poverty and true need.
This year has been 12 months of humbling experiences and gratitude for more than I could ever imagine.
We are spending today trekking around Machu Picchu in Peru (another thing we have to be thankful for!) and are thankful to have safely made it through our past year of travel. We are of course sad to not be able to spend the holiday with friends and family, but excited that we get to see them again in less than one month.
I am going to give it a try, after putting way too much thought into this and getting nowhere, here is what I am left with:
Family and Friends
Our friends and family back home are our number one supporters and those who have known us the longest. Whether they necessarily agree or understand the long-term travel thing, I know that we are returning home Dec 20th to open arms and smiling faces which I am so thankful for.
Each Other
This year has been a roller coaster, an experience that I have yet to process and fully comprehend all that I have seen and experienced. None of it would have been possible without Josh. Without Josh’s attention to detail and my planning and scheduling skills this year could have turned into a huge mess. We are lucky we travel well together and are able to calm each other down and talk through the variety of situations we have found ourselves in.
Freedom
Or at least our own version of freedom. We love waking up on a Tuesday and having a do-nothing day while on Wednesday we are both glued to our computers for 12 hours working. We love that we never know what day it is and are finally getting to work on projects we love. Freedom to us isn’t doing nothing, freedom is being able to work on projects we choose and believe in.
Angels we’ve met on the road
We have been so blessed with the friends and strangers that have shown us such generosity this year. We have been humbled by them and have resolved to do the same for others. There are so many people who have come into our lives this year, that we never would have met any other way. We are thankful for them all and the big or small impact they’ve had on us.
What are you thankful for today?
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