I'm going away for a while...

In 48 hours, I'll be on a plane headed halfway around the world. We'll arrive in Amsterdam and transfer onto another plane into Germany, which is the gateway to my study abroad trip. I'll be studying business and consumer behavior in several European countries. Honestly, I'm a little nervous, a lot excited but most of all, not even packed yet. I have everything laid out in my room on the floor, it's just a matter of fitting it into my hiking backpack!

My goal for this blog is 2-fold. One, I want to have a time of reflection set aside about once or twice a week so that I can remember funny events and all the amazing places I'm about to visit. Two, this is for family and friends to see what I'm up to at their own pace, making it easier for them to stay connected to what I'm doing. I'm hoping to put up pictures with each post with a glimpse to what life is like wherever I am.

Oh, and the name. Yeah, it seems random. But it actually has a deeper meaning. As a sojourner, I'm going to be getting a glimpse of what several different cultures offer as I move from country to country. I want to discover more about them, and the goal for myself is to be as open and as inquisitive as possible (a sleuth). I want to also investigate what it means to be me, without the filters and the comfort of a culture and a life that I've lived exclusively here in America. Besides the psychological meaning behind "SLEUTH" it also doubles as a clever acronym: Spencer-Lian's-European-Union-Trip-Headquarters. I totally figured that out after the fact though ;)

I'd appreciate your prayers and your emails as I start this journey. I am looking forward to seeing how my relationship with God, my friends and those that I encounter on my sojourn will play out. I'm also interested in seeing how my spirituality develops, because of the fact that spiritual life is so much more available at school. It's going to be a challenge to make time to pray, but I'm hoping those around me will want to embrace that challenge together.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."

-J.R.R. Tolkien"