Man has it been awhile…

I hate this love, yet distant relationship I have with my blog. Like it is impossible to keep up with, and my inspiration to write comes in big cyclic waves. Although this sounds like one giant excuse wrapped into a present with a bow, I really have no other reason for not being able to write regularly. It is one of my greatest annoyances because this blog is very important to me.

The past year has been about as predictable as my next blog post, with many ups and downs and even upper ups, with even lower downs. After procrastinating exponentially on my Master’s thesis, I somehow pulled out a W on deadline day at around 2pm, when the deadline was 5pm. Talk about stretching it till the last minute. I mean I’ve always been on the very end of deadlines, however, this deadline was close to not being met. It ended with a completion email from the thesis processing office, a couple of shots of bourbon later that night, and the decision to buy a few plane tickets and take off traveling for 35 days in Ireland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, and Iceland. If you’d like to hear about it, you’ll have to message me directly as there are many months to go on my blog in order to catch up to that point. I’m still writing posts from last March. Eeeek!

At the same time I was finishing up my Master’s Degree, I received some upsetting news that has placed me in a state of anxiety for this next year. Maybe I will speak more of it at a different time, but for now my fate in the military is on the line over this next year, and I will not know anything more until next September.

After finishing my Master’s my entire family was able to come visit for the celebrations, my sister flew in from Japan, my mom and dad flew from Pennsylvania, my Aunt & Uncle came from Wisconsin, as well as my cousins and their husbands and children. It was a grand time!! Just a few days after everyone headed home, I took a night flight to Dublin, Ireland, and fell right back into my most relieving position as the young backpacker, who has no cares in the world, except what to eat for dinner and with which person at the hostel? I did meet up with some childhood friends and traveling friends along the way, which was pretty awesome.

Arriving back in Monterey 35 days later I had learned much more about myself on the road, which is one of my favorite things about traveling solo.

But as soon as I got back, the gallivanting was over and I started learning Indonesian at the Defense Language Institute a couple days later, and have been kind of sort of miserable ever since. There’s a few reasons for this, but I won’t get into them now. One of the major reasons is the 6 hour test we take once a week, which has been very hard for me to prepare for. With very early wake-up calls to study, and prepare food for the entire day, combined with late workout sessions, and nightly study reviews, I normally fall into bed pretty exhausted and dreading having to do the same exact thing the very next day. My brain is mentally exhausted.

I seriously would have told you that the Master’s program at the Naval Postgraduate school was drastically hard, but I take it back after one week trying to learn a language I had no prior knowledge of before the start date. That, combined with the strictly regimented daily routine because of the setup of the Army base itself, I no longer have the many freedoms nor the “do your work on your own as long as you get it done mentality” I was at least afforded during the program at NPS. Plus we did not even wear our uniforms but once a week. Needless to say, the transition has been a bit difficult, but is finally starting to settle out.

Last year I came to the realization that my blog was a passionate hobby and that was it. Although I had expectations before and have done a couple of sponsored posts, I now know that this space is purely a hobby, and my personal accounts of my travels and other related things. I have disabled my newsletter from being sent out, even though you can still sign the mailing list. I just wanted to be able to write freely, knowing that many people don’t stop by here regularly, or of their own accord, and that was comforting. Since starting the language program, it is apparent that I will not have time for many things aside from learning Indonesian over the next months, and so, with no immediate plans to travel or do other things on the weekends aside from going to church and studying, I am also making it an endevour to try to focus here and also use this platform to advocate for some things I am passionate about. More about that soon.

For now, happy holidays, I hope that 2017 has been good to you and that you are looking forward to the new year and all the joys it will bring. If you are reading this, then thank-you for stopping by. Even if these posts are few and far between, I appreciate anyone who has found some time to read the words I write. Thank-you.

This article appeared first on The Cassey Excursion.