Packing my life into 2 bags...

Days in Korea: -6
Packing an entire year of your life to fit airline baggage allowances is difficult. How do you decide what is truly important? What you positively, 100% cannot live without for a year? What you think you may be able to get there, so you intentionally leave it out, only to find out you actually can't get it... This is the dilemma I have found myself in this past week. I leave in 5 days, am I packed: No. Am I looking forward to the travelling part: No. It's interesting when you're restricted to a limited number of things, that you realize what actually has true worth and value in your life. Some things have sentimental value, others have practical value and somethings may have no value, but can't be lived without.
As this week draws to an end, I feel myself getting more apprehensive everyday. Have I made the right choice? Why couldn't I just leave things as they were? But when I actually sat down to think about it, this is how I like my life! A chaotic (but orderly mess); not knowing what is coming next and just hanging on for the ride.
A lot of people have asked me how I can just up and leave it all behind for a year. Simply put, I don't see it as leaving everything behind. The rational reason that drew me to sign myself to life in another country for a year was something I couldn't find in Canada: steady work in my chosen profession (teaching); which as a result has left me with a lot of student debt to pay down. Sure I had a good job, great pay, excellent hours, benefits and a yearly bonus. I had what so many young graduates don't have and strive for: job security. I suppose maybe I don't like to feel as though things are too 'comfortable' for too long. Is a job worth doing if your heart isn't in it? Yes I had a job that paid my bills sufficiently and gave me some freedoms, but what's it worth if you don't feel any passion for what you do?
Hopefully my upcoming year in Korea will be a fresh start to do something I actually have passion and a talent for. Having traveled and taught before I feel like I know (relatively) what to expect.In the end everyday will be an entirely new experience with a lesson in life; a blank page waiting to be brought to life with the richness of daily experiences of life in a different culture.