I Had The Perfect Life

Have you ever fallen in love with a city? That's what happened to me when I was living in Nashville, Tennessee.

The whole time I was there, the feeling never faded. I had the perfect life for six years and then decided to trade it in for something else.

Music City, USA.

To me, interesting photos always have a story in them. I snapped this photo thinking the walkway told the story of the kind of waiting that happens at home when someone is expected to return from a long trip. Later, I realized the walkway itself could be waiting for someone who should leave home and begin a journey that is due...or overdue.

I think it was the winter of 2012 when I made up my mind about moving abroad, but I had daydreamed about it for years. My one goal and motivation was to learn Spanish.

But there's another part to the story.

For years in Nashville, I basically walked around feeling like I had it all. I was blessed with a great city, great friends, great church, great boss -- everything. And somehow, in the middle of feeling totally grateful for such a rich life, a simultaneous and conflicting feeling emerged. My cozy "who-could-ask-for-more?" existence became a luxury I both loved and longed to leave.

Things are so much clearer in hindsight. Looking back, I see that different forces in my life all signaled the same thing: the time was finally right for me to embark on this international experience.