For most people, the New Year starts at midnight on January First when the ball drops and everybody cheers. And even though, during most December 31sts, I participate in this ritual, it is not until that trek back home and getting settled into the routine of school when I start to feel that the New Year has begun. Until that moment, I am still on vacation, trying to grab some fun while the opportunity is still available. All of the rules of vacation apply. Working out is unnecessary because vacationing is hard work. Food is always fat free, so I can eat whatever I want without having a guilty conscience. Staying up late and being merry is the whole reason I am on vacation in the first place, so I should never look to my responsibilities, hoping that they will be taken care of. That is the whole reason I have a job in the first place. How can I take on those resolutions that is tradition on the first day of the year when my mind is still thinking about these important vacation ideals?
So when I made my way to the airport on Thursday to make that long flight back to Seoul, I had a little more time to contemplate where I was in life and where I wanted it to be heading this year. Yes, I know that this is a little bit later than everybody else, but I have already stated my reasons. It was also time to say goodbye to Colorado once again. This is always a bittersweet departure. For anybody who travels a lot, they know that it becomes tiresome to always be living out of a suitcase and jumping around from place to place. There is always the urge to find the comfort of your own place and the ease of living that is there. When I got into that plane, I longed for the comfort of the groove I have carved away in the mattress of my own bed, and the spot on my couch that had felt the pain of my absence. I wasn’t looking forward to the fourteen plus hours of travel I would have to endure to get me there, but those thoughts made the journey a little less painful.
These lures of comfort are also tinged with the bitterness of leaving something wonderful behind. I know that it has been almost four years since I last called Colorado my home, and I have seen a lot of the world since then, changing my perspective of how I look at it. But this is the place that helped shape me into who I am today, and every time I go back, I can’t help to feel that influence. The dusty plains, and rocky mountains will always call out to me, and I always hate the moment that I have to say goodbye to them. The one consolation that I can take with me as I sit in that cramped airplane seat, scrolling through the Hollywood movies that I missed in my absence is that though I may be away, Colorado will always endure. And I look forward to the next time that I come back and say hello. So, until next time, fare thee well Colorado. And to all the friends and family that I leave behind, I look forward to catching up when our paths cross again some day.
John Collings 