We spoke to my sister-in-law today. She's in Africa, volunteering for a few more months. Her placement ends in May, and she hasn't found any new opportunities, and is toying with the idea of coming home -- the economy's not good, she's worried it'll take a while to find a job, blah blah blah.
We very, very strongly advised her to stay. Her ticket brings her home to Toronto at the end of September; why would she cut her trip short by six months? Sure, she's worried. Sure, she's probably homesick. She's tired and lonely and all of those things that make the thought of home, and stability, very appealing right about now. We remember those feelings with great clarity. Now that we have home and stability, the thought of being where she is right now is extremely tempting.
So many people have said to us, "I wish I could do what you have done!" Well, they all can. However, there are lots of reasons that they think they can't. They are the same reasons we waited so long to leave -- the jobs, the house, the family, the fear. I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say it was a monumental effort to get everything tucked neatly away before we took off to Kathmandu. I also want to point out that we couldn't have done it alone. We had ongoing help from many people in the form of emotional support, people to do the odd little jobs for us, people to take care of our stuff while we were gone. Doing it once was hard enough. Doing it again -- well, I might not need as much convincing, but I wouldn't look forward to it.
She's already done the hardest part. She left -- and now that she's gone, she should stay gone. This is truly the chance of a lifetime, and she should make the most of it, even though right now it's hard to see it for what it is. I hope she gets there soon.
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