7:43 A.M.  As I open my eyes, I begin to take in my surroundings.  New day, new country, new life until tomorrow.  The room is dark. A small strip of light peeks through the pastel pink curtains, and I notice a poster of a gorgeous ocean view reading “home.”  Well yeah, I think to myself, home for the next twenty-four hours. I force myself to roll out of bed and open the curtains and am instantly greeted by sunshine and the clearest water I’ve ever seen in my life. 

          “Yes!” I scream, overly excited to have another beach day.  I race out of the bedroom to find a long, wide hallway lined with doors on either side.  I walk down far enough to find the spiral staircase leading downstairs. Before I start down, I smell the sweet and salty aromas of breakfast. Making my way downstairs into the kitchen, I notice two other people.  The first, a man in his 50’s, is very occupied flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, and cutting fresh fruit.  The other is a woman who appears to be around 20, my age, and has pale skin and bleach blond hair with piercing blue eyes.  Before I can take in the rest of my surroundings, the woman runs up to me with a huge smile and wraps me in a hug.

          “Hey,” she says through her smile, “you must be who I’m staying with today!”  Confused, I look around not meeting her eyes.

          “Where am I?”

          She laughs, “Silly, you’re in Linapacan in the Philippines! Home of the clearest ocean water in the world!” She opens her arms and spins around, looking up at the ceiling before stopping to ask, “What’s your name by the way?”

          “Elle,” I say, “what’s yours?”

          “Oh, I’m Meredith. Nice to meet you! Where were you yesterday?  I was in Hong Kong, but I really didn’t enjoy my time there.”

          “Umm, what do you mean?”

          “Where were you as in what county. You do move every day, right?”

          Shocked, I responded, “Oh, uh, yeah.  I was in Mexico in some random city. I stayed in this gross run-down hotel all day playing Words with Friends on my phone. Wait, hold on, how’d you even know this?”

          “I mean, it happens to me too.  Every day, I wake up and I’m somewhere else with somebody new! Today I’m with you, I guess!” She playfully punches my arm, “We’re going to have so much fun at the beach all day!”

          At this point I’m completely baffled, not sure how to react.  Ever since I was little, I thought I was the only one that had to deal with this, and now I find out there’s multiple other people in the same situation I’m in?  I’m not sure whether I’m angry over not having anybody to do this with or relieved for the same reason.

          I slowly ask her, “So you’re saying this happens to you every day too? As in new country every day? And you always have somebody with you in the same situation?  This is unbelievable! I thought I was the only one,” at this point I have to sit down.

          “Yeah, every day I’m at a new country, but somebody new is with me.  Have you always been alone?”

          “I’ve always been alone, and it’s been horrible.  Every new day I meet the most amazing people, but little do they know that I’ll be gone the next day!” I start sobbing, “I’ve never understood why I this happens, but in a weird way, I’m so relieved to have somebody that partly knows what I’m dealing with!”

          “Elle, don’t worry. I’ve heard from past roommates that it ends after 10 years, so we only have to live like this for a small amount of time.  Enjoy it.  It’s seriously a blessing,” she wipes the tears away from my eyes as I wipe my nose on my sleeve, “We’re going to be fine. You just have to appreciate the life we get to be in.”

          “You’re right.  I’m being over-dramatic,” I say through the final sniffles.  “Come on, let’s make this day count.”

          Meredith and I race to the beach and spend the rest of the day relaxing and sharing our past experiences, not worrying one bit about what tomorrow will bring. Although it has its challenges, I will appreciate the opportunity I have to see the world while it’s here.

​

​