Wednesday, July 23, 2014, 8:52 AM, Barcelona time

I woke up this morning to mountains outside my window. Although I wasn’t sure which mountains at first, I figured out that we were flying over Portugal a few minutes later. The landscape from 30,000 feet doesn’t look vastly different than it does at home, flying over the Midwest. But I know on the ground things are vastly different. A different language, different food, different traditions, and a different way of life all await us today.

I rode this journey next to a little boy of about 9. He was quite well- behaved and didn’t give any fuss the whole night. I watched a movie and part of another before falling asleep myself. I got plenty of rest on this flight, which is good, as we plan to have a full day ahead.

As I grow older I find myself being less adventurous than I was in my youth. It is weird. I knew that once we got a house and got settled, and I got settled with a job decision, my life and outlook on life would be different. It is. I can’t explain it really but I feel like I m finally back to the place I started five years ago, before law school, only different. I will never be the same. I can never go back to being that person who started that journey. I have changed.

I find myself wanting to stay home more. Maybe because for the first time in my life I actually enjoy home. Part if it, I know, is because we now live in a quiet neighborhood with nice neighbors who don’t believe they can infringe upon others’ rights. It’s also different because we have only one child remaining at home. It will only be a few short months before she is also gone.

So today as we fly toward the Med, seeing it for the first time in the distance, we begin anew.

We start this journey anew. We start. That is what counts.