"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."
Returning to my parents' house last week was mentally challenging for us. It was an unintentional opportunity for us to question whether we made the correct decision to take the road less traveled. As we spoke with friends and family, we became acutely aware that we are in entirely different places. Paul and I are living a life that is practically unheard of in this day and age and country, and we are dealing with challenges that most people in the United States cannot comprehend. I must admit that some days we wonder if we are crazy for embarking on this adventure. We question if we have the necessary skills to succeed. We fear that we will someday crawl back to "real jobs" with our tails tucked between our legs, feeling as though we failed. Nonetheless, we chose to abandon the traffic jam struggle to travel in the same direction as everyone else. We chose to try something unique. We chose the road not taken. And I am forever changed by that decision. I do not think that I will ever be able to go back to the way we used to live. We took the road less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
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