This Post is for my First Year

This post is for my first year. I still have four months to go before surviving a full year in Cambodia as a 22-year old peacebuilding advisor. But this post is for my first full year dating someone I care about. I thought about writing about long distance relationships before. This blog is the intersection of nomadic discoveries and my own personal story, and it qualify in both categories. I haven't for three reasons. First, I haven't figured it out, seriously have a long way to go. Secondly, it's not just my story to share. And finally, if anything, I can't write a piece titled, "how to manage a long distance relationship." I can't reduce it to a series of smart bullets and silly statements.

Jon and I went to uni together, lived in the same intentional community together, and both had internships in DC last year. There's some discrepancy how we met, but it was Halloween weekend 2009 which would have involved a dance and him fixing my roommate's virus-infected computer which was downloading gay porn. In all honesty, I thought he was a nice guy, I liked him well enough, but didn't think he'd last long, between Cambodia and the fact that I can be truly annoying. I'm glad I was wrong.

Long distance relationships are difficult. It's really, really difficult to lives 12 time zones and 10,000 miles away from something special. It's difficult because we've built separated lives. It's difficult because my life is hilarious I want him to experience it with me. It's difficult because there's no buffer between me and the strange people on the bus. I doubt I'd encourage anyone towards such idiocy, and yet sometimes, disjointed is better then the complete absence of someone's presence. We humans are strangely adaptable creatures. When you find something good, you keep it, work for it, and wait for it. If I had to make a bullet point, it would be this.

• If you're doing to do it, make sure the other person is worth it.

So this is for a year of learning about myself and someone else, learning to balance and be balanced, growing up in the world, and finding happiness with someone who bizarrely and illogically tolerates my insecurities and global nomadic tendencies. Yes indeed, life as a global nomad takes surprising turns, and has surprising blessings.