Thoughts on Love from 30,000 ft

Thoughts on Love from 30,000 ft.

Over my few years of travel, I have learned to love starring out of the window into a sea of white clouds. It can be bumpy and scary to get up there, but once you do, it is breathtaking. There’s something about it that makes you realize how small you are and how big the world is. How the opportunities are endless, and the people so many. I watched out the window as unknown worlds passed underneath the big metal tube carrying me to a temporary stop in Taiwan. Under the hum of the big jet engine, I reflected on the people I have been so blessed to love over the last 11 weeks. 

When I left the United States in June, I would have defined love differently. Something that is permanent and serious. Something that comes along with rules and expectations. But now, love looks like eating fresh fruit delivered on a motorbike at 3am while watching the Croods. Love is digging our hands into a bag of chocolate chips on the kitchen floor, just because we can. It’s walking through markets for hours and making unplanned 7-11 stops on the way back home. Love isn’t found in a club or at a party, but is actually often brought with you. Love is the glance passed across the room, which holds a meaning only you know. This kind of love is different though. 

It’s different from the love that mom shows when she texts you right before you leave for the hospital, despite the 11 hour time difference. It’s different than the love of your dad, calling to pray for you when you are anxious to fly. It’s different than the love your three siblings show when they send you reels that only make sense because we share the same last name. 

I think that’s a blessing. Over the past 11 weeks, I have learned love doesn’t have a shape. And that is so cool and incredibly freeing. It doesn’t look the same between people, not even for each of your friends. Not all love lasts a lifetime but ends all too soon with a tight hug by the yucky canal. Other love lingers, through story replies and Instagram reels that spark a conversation. Some love plans to spark again in Thailand, with peace and calm. Other love waits patiently in Italy, Slovakia, and Spain, for a chance to be the native guide. 

Love is more than a heart on Valentine’s Day. It’s not reserved for a boyfriend or a girlfriend or husband or wife. Love is all around, but sometimes it requires you to let your guard down and show your true self, unashamed of what people might think. Because in the end, the ones who truly care will love your out-of-season Christmas pjs and random outbursts of dancing. 

To all of you that have crossed my path over the past 11 weeks, I love you. And to those who will cross my path in the months to come, I can’t wait to love you. 

Hug soon,

Margeaux