290

every country.

you think you’re here to travel the earth, imagine the stars and maybe visit planets outside of ours. you’re not. you’re here to discover every shore inside of you, to watch the seasons turn from inside your flyover states, to learn languages and dialects in the exact order they evolved. that’s what this is.

some voyages started out as explorations or vacations. there were things you wanted to know. but now you’ve arrived into paradise within days of the tsunami or torrential rain. the itinerary mapped ancient ruins and guided tours just before “the big one” shook everything up again. you packed swimsuits and beach reads for the exact week that drought and wind would transform the sunny side of your island into kindling. and just like that, your journey became a rescue mission.

it can’t end until the airports start letting people out again. you become a walking white blood cell (if you can help it) but your main job is to not make things worse, to let the community rebuild. and just as soon as you settle in, no longer counting the days, the ports open up. you’re on the first ship out, due west, finding that you are already home, now that you’ve been unexpectedly returned to yourself.