I DID IT…!! After nine months, this ridiculously exciting chapter of my life has drawn to a close.

I arrived at JFK on Saturday afternoon, officially concluding my long-anticipated RTW trip. And a successful trip, at that! I had no right to expect that all would work out as smoothly as it did. I was not robbed, raped, mugged, or murdered. I didn’t even lose my cell phone.

Itinerary-wise, I had to drop China and Bhutan, but added Egypt and Dubai.

I didn’t even get sick until Nepal in October! Nary a sore throat or stuffy nose for over six months. Back in LA I’d get that like four times a year (probably due to the cave-like environment of the Y&R control room).

But what does it all mean? What have I learned and what can I take away from this adventure, other than (tens of) thousands of photos? How has this journey changed me?

Here’s what comes to mind:

• The world is, indeed, largely good. I am so pleased to have confirmed this via my interactions with others in 15+ countries / cultures over the past year.
• I am more confident than ever that I can do whatever it is I need to do. I can figure stuff out, use the resources at hand, and get it done. It is empowering to have witnessed this in action.
• Prior to this trip I considered myself an introvert, but I had a lot of practice meeting new people and discovered that I’m more socially adept than I gave myself credit for. If I sense someone is on a different wavelength (i.e. different values or WAY more social) then I start to close myself off. Which, I’ve realized, is totally fine. If I don’t get along with everyone then it’s not a reason to feel bad about myself.
• My least favorite character flaw — impatience / rudeness / brusqueness / general unpleasantness when things aren’t going my way — is alive and well and not at all diminished by my time abroad. While I would’ve hoped the experiences of this past year have made me a better person, I must acknowledge that is not the case. I am the same person in so many respects. BUT I appreciate this awareness and I can accept — and forgive — this part of me, even as I strive to do better. To curb my attitude when things go wrong. I now realize this is something I will always struggle with, and that is okay.
• I am at ease with the unknown. In fact, I like it. This past year was full of blank pages and it turned out better than I could’ve imagined. I’m reminded of the Thoreau quote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”

(Go ahead, vomit at that last bullet point. In short: it’s okay to not have every life move planned out.)

So… the future. I’m curious to see how I’ll readjust to “normal” life for the time being. The holidays are a nice distraction. My uncle made the wise observation that were it not for the buzz and excitement of Christmas, I might feel like someone unplugged me. To quote another family member, my dad said it’s like I’ve been eating cake every day for this past year, and why would I want to return to eating vegetables? I dig both of these analogies.  That said, I am craving down time so perhaps my trip wrapped up at just the right moment.

My plan is to take it easy for the next month. I’ll spend January in Connecticut logging quality time with my parents, family, and friends. I have a lot of TV to catch up on (that is not a joke). I will see theater in NYC, taking advantage of rush tickets and stretching my under-30 theater discount out as long as possible (I turn 30 in March). And of course I will edit photos, blog, and wrap up coverage on my RTW trip.

I hope to spend much of February and March in Los Angeles (finding a short-term rental on Craigslist… still have to investigate the car situation). A few words about this: it took leaving L.A. for me to realize just how much I consider it home. I miss my friends, my sister, all the theater, going to comedy shows, trying new restaurants, hiking in the mountains, long walks in Toluca Lake, yoga, and Saturday mornings at my favorite coffeehouse. All these years I’ve been in denial of just how deep my roots have grown. So I plan to take two months to indulge in all my favorites, plus catch up on boring things like doctor’s appointments and taxes. I’ll use that time to research how to monetize my travel photography, apply for some travel-related gigs for the fall, and plan my own future travel. And do some freelance production work to feed my back account and get back to my TV roots.

Then I’d like to travel from April through maybe September. I have a few possibilities in the works (China?!) and I’d like to substantially explore the African continent on multi-month overland trip. And I’d love any excuse to return to Europe, as I haven’t been there in exactly a decade. Croatia is very high on my list. So is Norway. And Iceland.

If all goes as planned, one of the travel gigs will work out for the fall. If not, I’d actually be thrilled, as it might mean getting to spend that season in the States — I missed it so much this year. Nothing induces pangs of homesickness quite like seeing everyone post about New England foliage or pumpkin spice lattes after Labor Day. And at some point I very much want to live in New York, so perhaps that would be a good time to give it a trial run.

And that is the state of my life at this very moment! I am flush with gratitude and gleeful thinking about the future.

I don’t know that I am capable, right now, of grasping how enormous this opportunity has been. I suspect in the coming months and years I will process and gain perspective. In the interim, I’m overwhelmingly grateful.

I’ll conclude with a heartfelt THANK YOU for following along on this journey. I appreciate every blog comment and interaction on Facebook and Instagram. I have more content to share from this RTW trip (Borneo, Palau, and Japan are next) and look forward to lots more posts in the new year.

XO to you all!

–Erica