"Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a ticket to Nashville"

With this trip, I had started a new tradition where every new year, I would pick out a week long trip and a weekend trip out of a bowl and those would be my trips for the year. Up to this point, I had spent so much of my time not traveling because I was waiting for my Prince Charming to join me. Prince Charming was never coming. I needed to see the world when I wanted to see it. Now.

The start of this trip, as with many others, was rough. I went to go and get my rental car and realized I forgot my ID in a bin at an airport in NY when I was going through security. I couldn't get my rental car, I couldn't get into my hotel room. I was truly stuck. I got so angry and bitter with being alone. If I had Prince Charming with me, we could've used his ID and we could've taken care of my ID when I got home. We wouldn't have to remap out the entire trip and miss out on key things I was looking forward to and needed a car for.

Luckily, it all worked out. My father went to the airport and got my ID shipped to me overnight at the hotel. I didn't have to miss out on anything. But I spent the week in my depression figuring out how I was going to snap out of my funk. I couldn't rely on anyone else. I needed to be able to depend on myself and not worry if Prince Charming would finally one day act like Prince Charming.

Nashville was my turning point in this long journey of learning self-love. I knew if I made it through this week without having to ask Prince Charming or anyone else for help, I could make it through anything. And I did it.

Now, my depression didn't go away with the snap of a finger. It's been years and I'm still working through it. But I went from being in tears all day long, to only crying at night, to only a few times a week. Now, I have my rough moments. Like writing this blog, a lot of not so great memories are coming back to me that I'll have to deal with. But because of this trip, I've gotten way better at dealing with them. I now have my moments rather than going through my months.

Thank you, Nashville. I am forever in your debt.