10 Weeks & 12,259.7 Miles From Home

10 weeks.

That’s what separates me from home.  

Well, that and 12,179 air miles. And 80.7 road miles. But who’s counting?

It’s official, folks. I’m the proud owner of a plane ticket that will take me from Cape Town, South Africa to Nashville, Tennessee by way of Johannesburg, Doha, and Chicago.

CPT - JNB - DOH - ORD - BNA

That’s right. Mark your calendars. Come October 22, I’ll be back in the land of southern hospitality, Starbucks, and Zaxby’s. And by no coincidence is that just long enough for me to recover from jet lag before reuniting with my favorite people in my favorite place: WKU Homecoming.

Ten weeks seems like a long time. Until you realize that’s only ten more sushi Sundays at Beluga. And ten more half-price pizzas at Rafiki’s. And then you realize you won’t even make it to all of them because you’ll be traveling in between. Holy moly.

It isn’t until you start thinking about tying loose ends that you realize just how deep your roots are. Leaving means terminating my gym membership. And switching the phone and Internet bills to another housemate’s name. And sorting financials with your university. And buying take-away souvenirs from that time you lived in Cape Town. And sending your last postcards. And eating your new favorite foods. And writing thank you notes. And abandoning your phone number. And closing your bank account. And packing your life back into its familiar spot in suitcases. And saying goodbye.

There’s still plenty of time, I tell myself. And there is. But there isn’t. There are many hours in a day, and there are many days in ten weeks, and that zoomed-in perspective makes time feel slow. But there are also many weeks in a year, and ten weeks quickly becomes October 22.

There are not a lot of squares between now and then.

When Ryan Adams sneaks through my speakers with my favorite portion of his lyrics – I miss Kentucky, and I miss my family / All the sweetest winds, they blow across the South – I can’t help but wish time would speed up. 

When the sun is beckoning Cape Town to life and Table Mountain seems to be glowing, though, I can’t help but wish time would slow down.

Here’s to ten weeks of looking forward to a familiar future in my humble hometown and to ten weeks of savoring the present before it becomes the past.

I'm looking at you, October 22.