A Quick Word on Language I May Be Using.

I've been back and forth with this, but I've decided I need to allow myself to talk about God on this blog. It probably won't be often, but I do need to feel the freedom to express a central part of my thought-processes. If that bothers you, I really hope you can still read and follow my adventures anyway. I don't think anything I say should offend you. And if it does - let me know and I'll change it.

I've found in the last three years that the times in my life spent regularly praying have been incredibly beneficial. It's not always necessarily easy to be "in a relationship with God," but at the end of the day - I find more joy in life when I do feel that relationship is active. The times in my life (see: the last few weeks) that I'm out of touch with the spiritual, I feel life is dull, boring, maybe depressing, and I feel a little bit deader.

I've traveled before and I've felt this deadness. Far from home, far from joy, far from God, and far from self. This is simply not an option during this trip. I have been waiting to "backpack" Europe for years and years, and this trip ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO BE FULL OF JOY. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. I just know that if I make an effort every day to turn my heart away from worry and toward its center, I will be able to find true joy in the midst of what could easily be chaos.

I believe that God is everywhere and He is everything. These places and these people that I'm meeting are going to be brand new. They are going to be God showing Himself to me in all new shapes, forms, and speaking to me in brand new languages. I will not allow myself to not be utterly thankful to the Creator of this awesome world that I'm exploring. I will not allow myself to not be in conversation with Him. Thanking Him, praising Him, and knowing Him through this adventure which He made possible.

I know I'll learn more about Him in the next six weeks than I ever thought possible. I just want you, whoever is reading, to be a part of that journey, since it is a huge part the journey I'm taking. Closer to God, loving Him every step of the way is the journey I'm taking. And I just don't feel this can be rightfully called my travel blog without the story of that journey.

And I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open...