So, it’s no secret by now that I am about to embark on a new chapter, of my life starting next Sunday.

On Sunday, I will be flying to Philadelphia for two days for orientation and then will be flying to Windhoek, Namibia (by way of Johannesburg, South Africa) to begin my 27 month stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Main Project: The Secondary and Upper Primary Education Project – SUPEP).

I have graduated from university (two degrees, cum laude, I’m very proud of myself), completed 6.5 weeks at an incredible summer job, and just got back from a fun family vacation in Florida. So, I guess I am now ready to start a new part of life that actually requires adulating on my own.

A lot of people have asked me if I am ready, and the truth of the matter is that no, I am not.

I haven’t packed, there are still many things I need and want to get done, plus I don’t think I will ever be ready to say the goodbyes I’ve yet to say. Sure, two and a bit years isn’t really a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it still feels like an eternity in the short term.

I don’t think anyone is ever really ready for big changes in their lives, especially if it means leaving behind almost everything familiar and essentially having to start over.

However, change is meant to be embraced, and that is what I plan to do. Yes, I’ll get homesick, yes, I probably will consider coming home at some points throughout my service, and that is all okay. It’s normal. It is a part of growing.

So, bring it on, Namibia. I can’t wait to start.

I will be keeping up with my Peace Corps adventures as much as I can on this blog. Internet access will be sparse, especially in the first couple of weeks. However, I will try to publish whenever possible!

Also, after several requests from several people, I changed the name of this site to “Roaming Romary”. A lot of people told me it should be “Roamary” because it sounds the same and it’s a play on my Twitter/Instagram handle (@wheninromary). But, having been faced with people spelling and pronouncing my last name wrong my whole life, I couldn’t deal with misspelling it on purpose. 

(Featured photo by Walter Lyle. He’s real great)