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Well, I've been back in the US for 2 weeks now. Even after 2 weeks, it still seems really weird to wake up in my own bed, in my own room, in a place where I don't have to speak Spanish. I also still can't believe that my trip is over. My life has been pure travel for the last 6 months, it is definitely a bit of a shock to have it be over. My time in South America was probably the best 6 months of my life and I have absolutely no regrets about my trip. I saw so many incredible things and met so many amazing people from all over the world. There are definitely things that I didn't get to do that I wanted to, but there is always next time. I was so captivated by so many different places that I am very positive that I will be back soon. It is definitely true that the social aspect of my trip really made it special.

Besides the unanswerable question "What was your favorite part of your trip?" the most frequent questions that I have gotten are "Wasn't it boring traveling by yourself?" and "Weren't you afraid to travel by yourself?" No and no. Traveling by myself was an absolutely incredible experience. Although I was technically traveling solo for most of my trip (except for the last 2 months or so), I never really felt like I was traveling alone and I certainly was never lonely. By staying in hostels in most places, I always had a group of very interesting people to hang out with, many of whom I ended up traveling with for several days to a few weeks. In fact, I never really met any other travelers that I didn't like. I can only think of maybe two people that I met during six months of travel that I couldn't stand and that I went out of my way to avoid. The vast majority of travelers are truly great people with interesting stories and I am definitely going to miss having the opportunity to constantly meet so many people from so many different places all over the world.

My summer is going to consist of spending the month of May at my parents house in Michigan. A road trip across the US for most of June. A couple trips to visit family in July and then moving to the west coast to start law school. So although I am back to life in the US, I still have some bumming around to do before the heavy stuff starts this fall at law school.

Anyways, this is my last blog post. I hope you enjoyed reading it. All of my photos have been uploaded to Picasa. Check it: http://picasaweb.google.com/jmellgren

Until next time...