I'm moving to India

Yes, you read that right and no, I don't mean Indiana.

I have wanted to do this since I was 17. Really get out there in the world and make a difference in people's lives. I look at my life right now at this moment and truly love it and yet....there is a fire burning deep down, there always has been. As of late, those flames have grown and started to encompass every thought I have had. I am selling everything I own, except for what I can carry on my back. I have partnered with an amazing company to make sure my clients are taken care of after I am gone. And just like that, the details have been worked out.

I guess more than anything, I have came to the realization that there is nothing I really want within the material realm. I don't want a house, I don't want a nicer car, and I certainly don't want more clothes. What I want is adventure, but more than that, I want to be thrown out of my little secure world I have created and forced to LIVE. The flip side of my pure joy and excitement about my decision is that lately I have had massive bouts of tears. It hits me when I least expect it and I am sad. Truth be told I am a complete messy mixture of both sadness and incredible joy at the opportunity I have. I'm not sad to leave behind most of my life, but for the people that have blessed me with their amazing ability to love me unconditionally. My best friend is like a sister and what is my life going to look like without her in it on a daily basis? And then there are my clients, each one a friend also. These are people that took a chance on me and I hope that I have served them well and will continue to for the next few months. I will never ever forget what I have built with them. There are so many other people that have made up the fabric of my adult life and they are the ones that saw the best in me when everyone else only saw the worst. How do you say goodbye to that? A friend told me that just because I am leaving, doesn't mean that it's over with those people. I will carry those words with me when I go and when I am alone on the other side of everything I know, I will remember that.

The details are this, I will be making my way to the state of Kerala on the coast of the Arabian Sea in India. I found an incredible school/orphanage that is taking care of my room and board and I will be volunteer teaching English to kids. I also plan to open up a surf school somewhere down the road for the kids, (and yes, to my surfer friends, I am relying on you guys to send me old boards). The school I am going to is just incredible. They take in children that have been abandoned or orphaned and some of their stories are absolutely heartbreaking. And so, away I will go. I have to believe that in the end, all will become clear to me, why I have been called to this specific place and why I am doing this in the first place.

What I do know is that I am following my heart. It has never led me astray on what I should do, even when the odds seemed insurmountable. The other thing I know about myself is that I am a survivor. Throw me into practically any environment and I will survive, I usually in fact thrive. And if I hate it in India, at the place I have chosen, then I will go somewhere else. I am opening myself up to the entire world and more than anything I know that the world will answer with a resounding "Come, you are welcome and it is amazing out here."

I'll be here for 3 more months and I want to cram as much fun and joy and as many memories as possible into that time. So please, help me with that my friends. YOU will never be forgotten.

The link to the school is here. Just $100 USD pays for one childs education for an entire year.

Peace and love,

Lara