Ben has been gone almost 8 months. He left on July 30th, 2006 and will be returning later this month. It feels like I can see the finish line now that I am living in the same month that he will be returning.
For the last six weeks Ben has been travelling around Europe. He and a friend had planned the trip, but they split up as travelling partners after the first week, so Ben has been going at it alone. He was very positive about the prospect of travelling on his own, something he says he never would have planned. One of his first blog posts said that he was "an efficient traveller" meaning he could map out what he wanted to see in a city such as Paris, and do and see it all in a short time. He has been staying in hostels and riding the trains.
One particular entry really stuck with me. He said that he boarded an overnight train headed to Rome. It seemed like it was going to be a very uncomfortable night because his compartment was stuffed with people and all their luggage, which could have added up to everything they owned. He heard English spoken in the next compartment, so he went over and asked them if they would like to share a bottle of cheap French wine he happened to have with him. The evening turned out pleasant.
I realized from this that Ben knows how to navigate the world both geographically and socially. He is equipped to handle himself in any situation. On his own he has travelled from Amsterdam to France to Italy, to Spain. On March 8th he will fly from Frankfurt back to Tel Aviv. His plan is to spend a couple of weeks there seeing people he knows and then heading back to San Diego.
Ben is launched. He is no longer standing on the edge of the nest testing his wings. He is now soaring and the world is his.
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