16. Leaving San Diego For Good

for this post, i write it mostly for myself- there are no pictures- more for me to remember that day and how i was brave enough to move forward. the wedding wedding was a total high and the thought of colombia was a high too- but that sunday was a full struggle.

i was careful to not drink a lot at the wedding saturday so i would feel good on sunday. i had a to-do list of at least 20 things back in san diego that afternoon- i got to 3 at the most. i was grateful for the time with friends sunday morning at the brunch and didn’t want to rush. a quick stop at wholefoods for a green smoothie and then i sped to san diego.

first stop was to get my parachute at skydive san diego where i was getting my reserve parachute re-packed. when i went to pay, the rigger told me it was questionable for freeflying- the one type of flying that i was excited about. it was also way more expensive than i expected. i hadn’t been stressed about money and had not spend a lot in argentina- but the combination of hesitation about my rig and the extra money made me panicked.

next stop was verizon- where they told me they were helpless in an international plan- it was either $10 a day (ya right) or figuring it when i got to Colombia- i chose that.

a stop for taxes, deleting the rest of my to-do list then going to my friend amy’s. i was officially a gypsy and having packages and mail sent there. she got home from yoga at 8, my flight was at 6 am and i felt completely unprepared for the next day.

amy has seen me through everything- so the 20 minutes we had she saw me so raw that night- laughing about using her house to smuggle my vitamins and go pro for an argentina friend- then to crying because i was so scared to permanently leave the states with no return ticket. she handed me her beautiful beaded yoga bracelet. she pointed to the two green beads and said those were for strength and to hold them when I’m scared. she held me in the biggest hug as tears streamed down my face and promised me everything was going to be beautiful and that she believed in me. i rushed off to alex’s to finish packing.

4 hours of sleep at alex's, 6 am came and i was off to colombia!! i talked with my sister in atlanta- she was incredibly patient as I processed everything. i remember taking off from atlanta to bogota, colombia and thinking damn, that is the last time i see US soil for a long time. a huge smile came on my face and i was incredibly calm as that flight took off. colombia was my life time dream and it was happening!!!