10 hours into the future
The dreadful Thing™ happened.
I took my assigned middle seat, lamenting the fact that I was the unlucky chap who had to rub legs with my best friend on the left and a stranger on the right. As if the return flight home wasn’t saddening enough, now I had to look past the nose of a stranger to sullenly stare out of the window.
The stranger next to me quickly fell asleep and clearly needed a strong shoulder to lean on. I had to elbow them back to their seat multiple times. In the middle of the flight, the first meal was served. And then, oh then. The stranger, now looking refreshed and well-rested, turned their attention to me. I saw the gleam in their eyes, the friendly bow around the corner of their mouth.
"Please, dear god, no," I whispered to myself. I clutched my friend's arm, but they shook me off, quickly put in their headphones, and rushed to save themselves, leaving me to the wolves.
"Hello, nice to meet you. Where are you going? I came from..." The stranger launched into conversation.
I slumped in my seat in defeat, shooting daggers out of the corner of my eye at my friend, who had conveniently turned away from us.
I had been sacrificed to the chatterbox.
…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be realizing my dreams, like traveling to Japan, I would have laughed at the mere idea. Saving money back then was a struggle. I could never have imagined a future where I could save for both a home and travel. Then I met my partner, and I realized how truly harsh life is for single people. Living together with someone I actually like (and who is not ready to ditch me or screw me over) has given me so much more room to be frugal.
We made a promise that we both had to travel to the country of our dreams before making any permanent commitments, such as buying a home or having children.
Their dream destination was America; mine was Japan. And as per our promise, for the past 3 weeks, I have been living my dream.
Before I left for Japan, I had written a post about my trepidations and excitement, but ironically enough, I saw some other people here blog about Japan, and I felt it would almost seem like I was copying them. Before I knew it, the departure date arrived, and I just deleted the draft entirely.
I am happy to report that it was all I had ever imagined and more. I am glad and grateful, and at the same time, a bit heartbroken to say goodbye to a dream that has been 15 years in the making. Later on, I can start filling the void with new dreams, but for now, I want to savor all that I am feeling.
Perhaps one day I'll write out some of the impressions of my trip, but today I don’t yet feel like sharing those memories. It feels a bit like if I write them down, I will acknowledge they are in the past and they will start to slowly slip away, like all memories do.
Resting my well-used feet,
Rat
…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ