new york: empire state of mind

So after all the wedding hecticness I was almost ready to go home and skip New York. I had just had the best time and I could easily have ended my holiday there. Thankfully I didn't because New York ended up being another amazing time of course!

I first went to New York on a whirlwind guided tour with some other exchange students when I was 17. It was just another highlight in my year of living in the states and I since it was a guided tour I didn't bother looking too much into what to do. All the remember thinking at the time was that here was a city I could live in. Maybe not for a long time, but for awhile. That dream unfortunately got buried beneath a host of others due to logistics and time, but returning to New York has made it come alive again. I don't know how it would be possible, but lets just say it's on the list! The long, long list...

New York skyline

the newest mr & mrs braet

Last year while I was living in Australia a letter arrived for me in the mail from the USA asking me to be a bridesmaid for my sister's wedding. Sarah has always been the sister I never truly had and even though I had a vague plan to be in Scotland by the time the wedding happened I assured her that there was no way I would miss it and I would definitely be there. 

im going to wichita

- You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place - Miriam Adeney 

Kansas field at sunset

When I was 16 I left the bubble of my life in small town New Zealand and took a leap of faith into the utter unknown. Looking back at this time I dont know how I even managed to get to that point. It seems like a completely different person when I think about it, and I guess it was. I don't remember the specifics, but I had heard about the AFS exchange and decided it was for me. I'm not sure I actually intended to follow through but I tested the idea on my parents and when they didn't shoot it down it seemed logical to keep testing the boundary, until before I knew it I was on a plane flying away from all that was comfortable into what could have become anything.