Recollections en Route: I Moved to Prague!

…well almost.

Personally, my life was “inconvenient” at its worst during 2020 and 2021, which sadly not all can say. I contracted COVID-19 twice. Once in July 2020 (when it was linked to shame and disregard for the public), and once in May 2022 (when we collectively as a globe decided we were all just kind of over it). Otherwise, my biggest concern these past few years was the fact I couldn’t board a flight and disappear off the face of the planet as usual.

After much too long of a break from this space, I can confidently say I am (making my way slowly and surely) back! It’s been two years since I typed up a blog post about alien houses in Taiwan and honestly that feels a lifetime ago. I suppose because it was. Three years ago I travelled through all of Asia, blissfully unaware of what was on the horizon. Since then, we have endured a global pandemic affecting the lives of everyone all over the world.

With that came it’s own set of challenges.

For someone who identified so strongly with a life on the road, I simply didn’t know what to do with myself. I moved to San Diego. Somehow, I landed a job in the beginning of the pandemic. I moved in with my boyfriend. Said boyfriend and I broke up. I rebuilt myself in circumstances where I would have normally hopped on a plane. And reaped the benefits of it all.

I celebrated my 30th birthday in Hawaii with one of my closest friends. Multiple family members married the loves of their lives. My entire extended family took our first international (well, Mexico) trip together to celebrate my Nona’s 90th birthday. Friends had whole ass babies – as in humans and not fur. I moved home and spent long overdue time with my parents. My skin held a natural tan for longer than two weeks – thanks San Diego. I cuddled my cats for hours on hours.

Ultimately I learned how to live without travel, and I didn’t hate it. Being 31, I think some of that just came with age – I am getting tired. But I also didn’t have a choice. It was a true “grow where you’re planted” moment for me. I nurtured relationships, I improved my professional skill set, and most importantly, I worked on loving myself (how cliche). It’s not that I stopped thinking about traveling; quite the opposite actually. It’s all I could think of for a while. So I started planning my next move.

And eventually I ended up here, in Prague.

This dream started back in South Korea. Remember that girl that taught English in Daegu and fell in love with seven Korean boys? Well, the obsession with BTS didn’t subside (five concerts later…) but she has yet to teach English since. However, upon learning how quickly life plans can be interrupted, I knew I wanted to move to Europe and make one last hurrah across the pond.

With experience as an English teacher, Prague was an obvious choice (even back in 2018). Schools are always in need of English teachers in Prague. However, you could just as easily score a job bartending at an Irish pub, working as a barista in a local coffee shop, or work as an online personal assistant. These are just a few of the jobs in Prague I considered while scrolling through the online job listings.

And while I had a job offer and secured a shared flat within two weeks of arriving to Prague, I struggled emotionally. Maybe it’s the fact that I couldn’t plan anything prior to arriving so my anxiety was at an all time high. It could be because I haven’t done this in a few years and I’m rusty. But truthfully, I think I have just… changed. I cannot say if it’s for better or worse, but I am a different person than the girl who disembarked from Inchoeon Airport heading home to SFO.

In some ways I feel more secure in my capabilities. In other ways I feel detached from an entire community of expats around the world. Travel feels foreign to me for the first time. It’s as if I’ve lost that spark. In relationships, when the spark burns out, couple start to question… everything. Counseling is occasionally introduced, doubt begins to creep in, and insecurities appear.

Have I lost that “spark” with travel?

My initial reaction was to chuckle at such a silly thought. To suppress doubt and ignore his friend pride. Travel is my identity. It’s the mindset I have always felt most at peace. This blog contains multiple posts about my love affair with travel. But perhaps it is an affair best put to rest, as most affairs are. Do I truly value places over people? Am I enough to keep myself company anymore?

Alternatively, maybe we just need a nudge in the right direction to remind one another why we fell in love in the first place. Like all great loves, could there be a reason we keep seeking one another out? Does distance make the heart grow fonder?

In the coming months I will be sure to keep you all updated. It has been a whirlwind of a month in which I travelled to France, Morocco, AND the Czech Republic. There is so much to share, and yet so much to sort out on the front lines here in Prague. I look forward to sharing this new journey with the you all.

Until then, this girl is waiting on a visa and living on a prayer.