Finding [...] Myself [...]

So its officially over. I'm back home in Tampa. And before I was in Tampa, I was either in an airport or on an airplane for about 36 straight hours. Plenty of time to reflect. Here's some stuff I thought about...

Before I left on this trip, a thought I heard more than once was that this would be a great opportunity to find myself. Yeaa, find myself. I thought. But then I ran into a problem. I didn't really know what that meant. Sure, I've heard that cliche thrown around before, but what does it actually mean? So starting out, immediately I had two goals... 1) figure out what "finding myself" means and 2) do it

I think I was successful in both of those goals. Over the past 3 months I've come to realize that there are some unwritten, but assumed words in the phrase "finding myself". The full version is--Finding [stuff out about] Myself [that I hadn't previously realized or fully appreciated]. You see, it makes more sense with the brackets. Heres some ways I found myself:

-Walking--not as overrated as I used to think. I've come to enjoy it, You can see and notice much more when you're walking than when you're in a car going 40mph. I plan on encorporating going on walks into my normal life back in the states.

-Being without a cell phone--really not so bad. I actually started to like it. In fact, there were only a handful of times at which i thought, Oh man it'd be really nice to have a cell phone right now. I'm back but I'm not going to reconnect my phone right away and when I do, I will make sure to be without my it at times. Also, I'll text less.

-Wearing a scarf--not just for females and metro/homo sexuals. I can do it, and not feel feminine. So booyah.

-Taking photos--I have a whole new appreciation for photography. There's so much beauty in the world (see: Jessica Alba) and its cool trying to capture it and your experiences in a single picture.

-In the "having friends and family who love and support you as much as possible" category of life--I'm pretty blessed. Seriously, I couldn't ask for more.

-Playing guitar--I find it really fun, and not too hard to pick up on if you have the time. I had multiple lessons from different people at the hostel and now I really want to buy one. Soon I'll be able to romantically serenade a girl... playing a drum solo for her just doesn't have the same effect.

-Sleeping on couches--Any couch. Any time. Seriously, this is more of a warning to you because I already knew this about myself. But if I'm ever at your place and you leave me alone on the couch, I will most likely end up sprawled out and asleep. And sometimes I take my shirt off in my sleep. You've been warned.
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-Writing--starting to like it a little. Sure, I still think math is a beautiful thing (I'm a nerd at heart, I know) but I've enjoyed doing this blog.

-Life in gerneral--I've learned that theres a fine line between irresponsibility and spontanaity. I probably walked that line during this trip, but I'd like to think I stayed more on the spontaneous side. Through the times when I wasn't sure where I was going to stay or what I was going to eat, I definitely learned a lot about manning up and living with the consequences of decisions I made. And at the end of the day, I'd do it all again if I could.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I still have some pictures  I want to put up and maybe a couple more things about my travels I can share so don't worry, the blog isn't officially over yet.

Stay classy San Diego.