This afternoon after work I'm flying to Denver to catch up with my friends N. & B. I can't wait to see them. They've had so many exciting things happening in their lives recently between a lot of newish things including: new jobs, a new city, a new house and a cookbook that N. has been pouring himself into. Needless to say we have lots of wonderful things to celebrate. 

I basically packed my bag for this trip on Sunday night. Then I re-packed it last night worried that I'd forgotten something. The funny thing is I ended up taking things out rather than adding more. I thought: I'm only going for 3.5 days. It's nice not to be weighed down by things. 

This morning when I woke up I thought, tonight I'll be falling asleep in Denver. But what's more interesting to me is the fact that this is the first trip in the States in my adult life that's just for fun. It's not bundled up with something else--a long layover, a conference or a wedding. I'm going to Denver because I want to. 

A little part of me worries that when I moved back to the States that I wouldn't travel for the sake of traveling as much, or any more. Flight are more expensive in the States than they are in Europe and in Europe everything seems new and unexplored. 

What's more, I had a group of friends in Bulgaria who were always looking for the next adventure. Friends who were always up for booking flights and cheap hotels and just going. Friends who would rent a car for the weekend and drive. Friends who would book the first flight out of Sofia at the end of the work week and the late night flight back home again on Sunday so that we had as much time as possible to explore--who needs sleep, when there's so much to see? 

I think that this concentration of energy, passion and excitement is generally the exception as most circumstances don't support it. To live abroad with other expats who have the same vacations you do, who basically make the same amount of money as you do and who in large part are living abroad because they want to explore, travel and experience new things makes for a pretty stellar combination. 

But look at me go, I'm taking my first State-side trip. Denver here I come!