Pearl #15 ~ Past Pearls Are a Present Pearl

It's already May 8th and I still have 360 pearls to go before January of next year, but at least I'm posting, and I have been picking up the pace thanks to republishing my previous blog posts, written during my internship in Perú in 2006.  And I have to say, that while each of those posts contains descriptions of "pearls" from that experience, the process of re-reading my posts has been a pearl in itself!


It's so fun to see my perspective and thoughts as they were six years ago.  In a lot of ways, they're the same.  I'm still an optimistic and idealistic lover of travel and culture and exploration.  And I've been reconnecting with that side of myself lately, so it's nice to immerse myself in such a pure and foundational piece of my own personality, knowing that it hasn't changed yet.

It's also fun sitting here, almost exactly six years later, knowing all that's unfolded since embarking on that journey!  I keep smiling at my 2006 self, sometimes surprised at a comment or reminded of something that I've completely forgotten, often amused now that I know how the story goes . . . at least the next six years of the story.

Picture of Peru taken during my flight back home (2006).

I find myself talking about Perú with friends and family more, and reliving these stories to them all over again.  It´s sparking new memories of other travels, too.  While I want to continue my Perú series to the end to avoid confusion, I'm also eager to jot down tales of my times in Greece and Nicaragua and Morocco and, of course, Spain.  I have another journal - a physical, leather-bound one - from that experience, which will no doubt provide its own wealth of insight into my 2004 self.

It makes me want to continue this project and begin journaling more regularly again so that in another six years, my 2018 self can learn from the me of the present.  Especially as I get antsy to book a plane to some undetermined international destination again!  What a cool adventure life is!