| My recent decision to move to Panama for four | | | | time and space between us became a reality. |
| months sounded quite a bit like my decision to move to | | | | At the Albrook bus terminal in Panama City, Panama, I |
| Costa Rica for six months, or to Chile for five. I made | | | | stared in awe at my surroundings, which stared right |
| all the travel arrangements on my own, including a | | | | back at me. "What was this little American girl doing |
| stopover in Costa Rica to see my boyfriend. But when | | | | alone in such a big place?" they questioned. I was |
| it came time to say goodbye after spending three | | | | obviously not an intimidating sight, and found it quite |
| weeks with another human being at always by side, I | | | | simple to get help from others. A taxi driver dialed my |
| felt a sudden unfamiliar anxiety about venturing off on | | | | friend's phone number on a public phone for me, a |
| my own to a new country. | | | | guard watched my bags as I used the restroom, and a |
| Traveling alone comes with many ups and downs. In | | | | fellow passenger offered me a ride to my new home. |
| our daily lives we rely on friends, family and | | | | Luckily, I was able to decline that offer as my new |
| co-workers to get us through our days. We often | | | | boss rolled up, as if on cue, to where I was standing in |
| overlook how interwoven our actions and | | | | his white ford explorer with a huge smile on his face |
| accomplishments are, and how our surroundings define | | | | despite the early morning hours. And I knew that |
| who we are. | | | | everything was going to be okay. |
| As I was sitting alone at the bus terminal in San Jose | | | | Best friends or recent acquaintances, we are never on |
| during the two hours that the bus was delayed, I | | | | your own in this world unless we choose to be. |
| started having fears of crossing the border alone with | | | | Traveling "alone" may allow you to forge your own |
| my life packed away into two large pieces of luggage. | | | | unique path, but there will always be someone nearby |
| I wondered how I would find my to-be-co-worker in an | | | | for you to fall back on. You just have to get used to |
| unfamiliar bus stop the next day; and how would I pass | | | | accepting the varied forms in which these people |
| 16 hours on a bus alone? Longing to crawl back to the | | | | come. You never know your own limits, until you take |
| warm, protective arms of my boyfriend, I boarded that | | | | yourself out of the comfort zone, forge new paths |
| bus and watched as my decision to put 16 hours of | | | | and let yourself rely on a stranger. |