My Five Year Plan...

Do you ever get that feeling where you are just completely overwhelmed with excitement? 

Earlier today, as I was walking to Target (to use the wifi) I had this mini-panic attack because I realized that I will be turning twenty-five next year. I literally just turned twenty-four less than a month ago, but I couldn't help but think about turning twenty-five...TWENTY-FIVE PEOPLE!!! How is that even possible!? I'm so young. I've always been one of those people who didn't mind having a birthday and getting older, unlike my sister Lindsay who preferred her thirtieth birthday to be called her twenty-tenth birthday (or something like that). But c'mon 25?! That's a freakin' milestone. I think I'm getting a little bit of anxiety all over again just writing about it now. 

I used to think that I would be married by twenty-four or twenty-five, and have three kids before thirty...HAHAHAHA what a joke. I can't even tell you the last time I had a real "serious" boyfriend. At this rate, it actually looks like the youngest sibling in our family will be getting married first! Not that Charlie is getting married anytime soon, he's just been in the longest, and basically only, relationship of the Siblings Curl. There must be a problem with Curl girls...or maybe it's just that we're all so independent (not to say that my brother isn't, of course. He's just found a keeper).

Okay, so clearly that story wasn't the part about being overwhelmed with excitement. I was going to Target this morning to sit in on a live webinar about teaching English abroad. Ever since coming to Australia I have had this longing to keep traveling. I spent six AMAZING years living in Conway, Arkansas while attending the University of Central Arkansas as a student-athlete; I milked my time there for all it was worth: five years of eligibility spread across three different sports, and two undergraduate degrees. 

How is it that preseason is about to be starting at UCA!? And then classes will be starting shortly after that? It's weird, after being involved in all that for so long, that it hardly crosses my mind anymore. I'm starting to see posts from former (but still current) teammates about how excited they are to "get back on the grind" and "ring chase," or from former (but now alumni) teammates who "can't believe it's over" and "want to go back and play forever." I used to be both of those people. Yes, I miss volleyball, soccer, and softball...the studying and going to class? Not so much. 

I was so engulfed in the spirit of UCA and being a (Sugar)Bear. I loved college. Of course I had my ups and downs, and it's absolutely crazy thinking about all the opportunities I was given, the friends I made, and the ones I lost, along the way. Two of my very best friends came from "playing" softball, something I never in a million years would have thought to happen. I am so grateful for all the trials and hardships that have shaped me and revealed the people who will stick by my side no matter what. But even still, it's still so strange to think that I won't be living walking distance from campus...I won't even be back in the United States until a complete school year has finished. I'm going to miss everything. But living in Australia for the past six weeks, and thinking about "what's next" for me, has made me realize just how small my world used to be.

Had I not booked this trip to Australia I would probably still be living in Conway, teaching elementary PE, coaching volleyball, and cheering on the Bears and Sugar Bears as often as I could. I would have probably stayed in Arkansas for the better part of the rest of my life...that sounds drastic, but I'm serious. I've always loved living in my comfort zone. I'm not a fan of change. I hate packing and moving. And I prefer stability and security. Here in Australia I have none of that really, and I am completely content and happy. 

Back to being overwhelmed with excitement...you know that thing I mentioned in a previous post called wanderlust? I have it. "A strong desire to travel." I've decided that I'm going to stay the entire year that my visa allows here in Australia. The boys and I are planning a week-long caravan through New Zealand at the end of September, and then in the beginning of October I plan on moving to Sydney and working for six months before spending the last two months traveling to parts I didn't get a chance to see. 

Then, after I get back from Australia, (by the way, this is all news to my mom, who will be finding out my plans as she reads this blog...haha), I plan on moving home and working for a year or two to save some money so that I can travel some more. This is where the InterExchange program that I mentioned earlier comes into play. I came across this website weeks ago that places people around the world to teach English. You can have contracts ranging from three to twelve months, and depending on where you choose to teach will depend on if you can save money that you're getting paid, or make enough to just live comfortably. I plan to do both, and either way I'll be rich in experience. 

I had an interview to be a recruiter for my university before I left the states. In the interview, they asked me what my five year plan was. That is one of the hardest questions to answer; they were probably wanting to hear that I planned on working for the university for the next five years and beyond. But I told them I had no clue, because everything that had happened in the last five years was completely different that how I had planned (which I was thankful for; not necessarily at the time it happened, but looking back now). 

I've never had a five year plan before. But if I were making one today, here it is:

• Now until May 2015 
• Australia
• May 2015 - January 2017
• Move home, work to save money, and take the TEFL online course to get certified to teach English abroad
• This time frame could also be extended in case anyone in my family, or a close friend (wink wink), happens to get engaged/married
• 2017
• Teach English abroad in South Korea or China (where I can continue to save money)
• 2018 
• Teach English in Thailand, and/or Vietnam
• 2019 
• Teach English in Latin America: Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, and/or Chile

And you know what the best part about all this is? I'm ACTUALLY using my teaching degree, and I get to travel all at the same time! During each of those transitions I would plan on coming home to regather, repack, and see my family. I don't think I could be gone and not see family for a straight five years! 

Of course, plans can always change...but there you have it!

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

XO - Cristin