I groaned in frustration, “I hate packing!” “Where are you going anyway?” Lola questioned, fiddling with the little giraffe figurine I'd gotten in Africa last summer. “My parents booked us this amazing trip on a train travelling across Europe. I'm going to eat authentic French cuisine, see the Italian Riviera, the Swiss Alps…” “Packing isn't so hard. Why don't you just bring all your favorite things with you and leave everything else behind?” She asked. I heaved a sigh, “you make it sound so easy. But I can't make a decision to save my life! Should I bring my green sweater or my red sweater? My favorite romance or fantasy novel? My scarf from Spain or my shoes from Scotland?” “You know, I think you actually enjoy this. You pretend to hate it, but secretly it thrills you to study the relationship between you and all your material possessions- to debate over what you want to have with you when you experience the wonders of the world.” “Okay, okay- I get it. You want to major in psychology when you go to college,” I cut in. “Not everyone has their whole life figured out by the time they're a senior in high school. Some of us feel like we have no idea who we are or what we're doing.” Lola stared. I flushed, realizing how bitter and jealous my words had sounded. “Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's really cool that you're a psychology nerd.” She offered a wan smile, coming to sit next to me on the bed. “It's okay. I get it. It's scary to not know what you want to do. Want to talk about it?” I bit my lip, but something about Lola's comforting tone coaxed everything to come spilling out. “It's just that- this could be it. The last Delancy family vacation- for who knows how long. The future is so uncertain. University, community college, trade school, career…” trailing off, I buried my face in my hands. “I just don't know what to do. I don't know what to choose.” Lola sat very still beside me for a moment. Then she got up, went for something in my closet, and plopped back down next to me, placing something buttery soft across my neck. I sat up, my fingers brushing my Spanish scarf. I looked back up at Lola, a question in my eyes. “I think you should bring the scarf. It suits you.” “But- what if I don't have room for something else- something really important?” “Well, then you'll figure out what that thing is and leave the scarf behind. But you won't know how much that thing means to you until you try something you don't really want, now will you?” I took the scarf off and held it in my hands. Smiling, I turned to my best friend. “I think I get what you're saying.” … In the end, I decided to take the scarf with me. And while I wore it, I thought about what Lola had said. “But you won't know how much that thing means to you until you try something you don't really want, now will you?” So even if I hadn't loved wearing the scarf, It would only have led me to realize that the Scottish shoes or the playing cards or the sunhat that I didn't have room for were what I really wanted. Either way, making the wrong decision would only have brought me closer to finding out what the right decision really was. All too soon- it was the day after the train had made its last stop, and we were about to catch our flight back to America. When I saw a basket of flyers stacked in their neat, colorful piles on a table, something made me pause to study them. “Whatcha looking at, Blythe?” my dad asked, lugging both his own suitcase, and our suitcase of necessities behind him. “It's a flyer for a foreign exchange student program in Europe.” I said absently, gazing down at the advertisement. Something was stirring inside me, like the train that I'd been riding for the last week was now rumbling through my body instead of through the wonders of France and Italy. “That sounds interesting,” Mom commented, coming up behind us. “You should hang onto that. I remember when I did a foreign exchange program when I was in highschool. I studied abroad in Korea and loved every second of it. It's what got me so into travelling in the first place.” “Look! Is that another chocolate shop down there?” Dad interrupted, “What do you girls say we make one last stop? We have about an hour before our flight!” Mom was laughing as Dad dragged her across the airport. I stopped to tuck a flyer into my suitcase before hurrying after them, feeling light on my feet. I'd spent my whole life travelling the world with my free spirited parents. Maybe it was time I started travelling inside myself, too. Suddenly, the vast array of choices laid out for my future seemed exciting instead of intimidating. In that moment, I knew I had options, and a lifetime ahead of me to explore them.