Mexico, here I come?

So far the internship in Mexico is the best after-graduation option for me: the job seems stimulating, the commitment is not long, and I get paid, not much, but enough to get by on a budget. Normally I'd jump up at the chance to go anywhere, and I've started the paperwork - and it might not go through - but I'm actually not that thrilled this time.

This is my second bout of travel guilt. I distinctly remember the first one. I was in Hawai'i; I had hardly started traveling back then, but I was at the high of my idealist militancy, and I felt like I should have gone home and got myself integrated in some kind of social movement, started building network, etc. instead of bumming around. All of this was weighing down my mind until I met an old hobo from Cali on a bus ride in the Big Island. I confided in him and he gave me his words of wisdom: it's ok - you're going to places and meeting people and learning; it will enrich you as a person and you will be more of help to others later in life.

His assurance has helped me got through the past few years with few moments of doubt. I've constantly told myself: I'm young, I want to see the world, I want to learn from other people. And it's true. I owe so much to the relationships that I've built and/or kept while being away from home: old friends that stay with me, new ones that I've made, strangers that take me in, feed me, look out for me. They encourage, inspire, essentially shape me into who I am. I've learned tremendously.

But at this moment, I really don't know if I can use the same "excuse" to justify spending 5 months in Mexico City, doing something that I'm interested in but not as a career. I just feel like once I graduate, I should head-dive right into the chosen path, learning more skills in either a social service or a policy setting. But maybe 5 months is not terribly long, summer will come and I'll head home? Maybe I can afford some procrastination?