Goodbye...Again

Since August 2008 I've been living abroad. If you count Lexington, KY as living abroad. I do since I only spent a month or two of every year on Canadian soil. Since then it has begun feeling as though my life is a long line of goodbyes.

My first goodbye involved me rushing my parents out of my dorm room. My dad gleefully skipped to the car and my mom was in tears as the door closed and she stranded her youngest child to fend for herself... surrounded by a volleyball team and the support of a massive athletic department. To me, it was the most exciting moment in my life. I was on my own and ready to conquer the volleyball world.

 

Since that time a few things have changed. Now, instead of a 9 hour drive from home, my parents need to hop on a 9 hour flight. My mother is still in tears but, now I am too. What was once easy is now the hardest part of every August. But I keep doing it. I continue to miss milestones like weddings and birthdays (my dad turns 60 in October) and I continue to believe that chasing my dream is worth it.

Everything I have missed at home I have gained 10 fold. While I find it excruciating to leave, my experiences overseas have never disappointed me. I have met amazing people every year. I have seen beautiful cities. I have driven hours, witnessed gorgeous sunsets, and puttered past rolling farms in countless countries. With the exception of every four years, people often ask athletes why they don't "get a real job" or "grow up." What they don't know is that we are growing and learning every day. While it appears that we're stuck in Neverland, we are just doing things a little differently than most. Do I wish I could plan a party for my dad or attend my best friend's graduation? Absolutely, yes! But for now I am insanely happy to love my people from a far and grow as a person for as long as I see fit.

Photos from top.

• My best friend Jill who recently graduated with a Kin degree
• Me and my father at a volleyball tournament
• My new home Torun, Poland
• One of two canals in Beziers, France
• Jewish Holocaust Monument in Berlin, Germany

Home is Where the Passport is

As defined by google a nomad is "a member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock." Now if we consider me, the person, and volleyball, my livestock, I think it's safe to say I fall into the category of nomad perfectly. 

 

My journey began in 2012 after graduating from the University of Kentucky. After my four years had ended I was on the verge of tossing my court shoes and calling it a day when my parents and persistent assistant coach, Keith Schunzel, encouraged (forced in my parents case) me to try out for the Canadian National Team. After making the team and having the opportunity to compete in the Pan Am Cup my on-again off-again relationship with volleyball was 100% on once more. 

Thanks to the support of family, friends and coaches what I once planned to be a single year abroad has turned into a career.  While my parents may have envisioned this for me, it's something that I was never confident I could do.  As parents always seem to be, they were right and I wouldn't change it for the most spectacular four walls in all of Canada. I am a nomad of the volleyball world and proud of it!

For those of you who stumble across this blog or for friends who know me already. This will be a compilation of reflection on past experiences as well as a current journal of my life, soon to be back in Poland. For anyone with questions or requests just contact me here or on my Facebook athlete page Rebecca Pavan.  For more consistent news and posts also see my Instagram rpavan22

https://www.facebook.com/rpava22/