Discovering Freedom in the USA

Discovering Freedom in the USA

6:05 a.m. – groan and wake up

6:10 a.m. – have coffee, one cup

7:00 a.m. – sigh and start work

12:00 p.m. – go completely berserk

5:30 p.m. – stuck in rush hour

7:00 p.m. – frozen dinner, devoured

7:30 p.m. – have travel day-dreams

9:30 p.m. – concoct money schemes

10:00 p.m – come to realization

10:05 p.m – dismiss aspirations

10:30 p.m. – fall asleep

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. REPEAT.

Caught in this trap

Of my life map

With no diversions,

Only one path.

Days pass, seasons change

Though my life doesn’t rearrange

It’s as if I’m surrounded by water,

and all I want to do is swim,

Though I’m trapped in a boat,

too afraid to go out on a whim.

Until one day, when enough was enough,

Quit my job, and packed my things up.

Said my goodbyes, and left the same night,

Got to the airport, and took the next flight.

Twelve hours later, I awake as we’re landing,

And with so much excitement, I find myself standing.

“Sit down, please!” Cries the stewardess madly,

And with nervousness and exhilaration, I sit down and chirp, “gladly!”

I turn to look out the window instead,

And I am in shock of what lays ahead.

Mountains and ocean, as far as I can see,

And immediately I know this is where I’m meant to be.

I walk out of the plane, and down a long ramp,

And then I receive my first passport stamp.

As I approach a cab I slowly inhale,

“Sir, take me anywhere,” I say without fail.

We drive through the streets and chat as we go,

He tells me about the ocean, I tell him of snow.

Eventually he pulls over and I get out to pay,

But he stops me and says, “come, let’s get ceviche.”

We walk towards a café and the music is bright,

And colorfully clothed dancers come into sight.

Mesmerizing aromas waft towards the door,

And before I have even tried the food, I know that I will want more.

As we wait for our food, a man asks me to dance,

And I think, if I’d been asked yesterday, I would have said, “not a chance!”

However, it is today, and today I am daring,

So, I grin happily, and get up without caring.

We take to the stage, and the man starts to lead me,

And, in this moment, I am undoubtedly

F. R. E. E.

As we dance, though, I come to a new revelation,

What it took, though, was a new destination.

Independence isn’t determined by your longitude or latitude,

But, instead, is completely dependent on your attitude.

And at this, the song ends, and the crowd begins to cheer,

My cab driver, now friend, winks at me, and holds up a beer.

I return to our seats to enjoy our beers and ceviche,

While thinking about my adventurous and exciting day.

The cab driver asks, “where to next, do you dare?”

I smile and reply, “doesn’t matter, because I now know I can be free anywhere.”

About the Author:  Barbara Anne Scheibel is a student at SUNY Oswego studying childhood education. During school holidays she travels anywhere and everywhere. She loves helping others, especially children, and plans on teaching abroad upon graduation.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Independence Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

The post Discovering Freedom in the USA appeared first on We Said Go Travel.