My Nina (godmother) told me last winter, “Megs, six months from now, you will look back on this situation and be amazed at how far you have come.”  I was confident in her words even though I was drowning in my emotions.  The year after my graduation from Wellesley had been difficult beyond all prediction and I felt exhausted.  Looking for  work, dealing with personal issues and saying goodbye to too many friends and family members had me feeling alone in a big, mean world.

Everyone had warned me- life is tough.  Really tough.  But I was ready to take it by the horns and kick life into shape.  I moved to Chicago and was going to make things work against all odds, but then they didn’t.  It was the first time I had ever really failed at something I had set out to conquer.  I was unemployed, heartbroken, and lonely.  As I talked with friends and family, I listened to my Nina’s advice and kept my head held high, while looking forward to sharing a nibble of my life with Go Girl every week.

With Go Girl, I have shared some of my travel adventures throughout a period of transition and growth.  Some of my favorite memories from this past year include curling up with my notebook and writing out my Go Girl post for the next week.  And like Nina said, I look back on those difficult months and realize that I came out a stronger, more independent woman with dreams of traveling further than I have imagined, when before, all I could do was escape through my dreams.

I was also very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to some amazing places last year and to visit with fantastic friends and new cities.  I flew to India and enjoyed lime soda ; ate home grown eggplant with tomato sauce from my families garden in the backyard; reunited with a childhood friend; and memorized some fun guitar tunes to share with friends.  The summer in Chicago has been amazing, but I have to admit that I am looking forward to what the next six months will bring.  There will be the wedding of my beautiful cousin in Texas, halloween fun with my wonderful travel bud Amy in Portland, and maybe even a New Year’s surprise.  But more importantly, there will be new adventures with new and old friends, and plenty more stories to share.  Happy birthday Go Girl!  I’m excited to see where we will be six months from now.