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My plane landed at the Atlanta airport on August 2nd, around 1pm. It had been a rough, restless night of travel, flying from La Paz to Santa Cruz, then catching a connection to Miami at 1am.

My first move upon arrival to Atlanta was to order a meatloaf lunch and sweet tea from the Paschal’s just outside the security gate. Then, I sat down in one of the big lounge chairs in the rotunda beside the food court to people-watch for an hour or so, and take some notes in my journal.

Two months later, I’m still taking notes and reflecting back a little bit on my Peace Corps experience and Post-PC travels. This will be my last post to this blog.

My PC story is probably not completely over, but this seems like a good a time as any to wrap things up.

Here are a few of the main things, worded as simply as possible, that I’ve taken away from my PC experience:

• Be Bold in Your Aspirations. Looking back at my own life, I have failed at very few things that I have put my mind to. PC is another event that I would consider an amazing success. In general, this is of course very positive; however, now and in the future I would like to fail a little more often, and in doing so, achieve great things. Life is full of the unexpected, and it took a handful of farmers in rural Costa Rica to make me reassess what I am capable of.

It’s like Theodore Roosevelt said: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Okay…so Roosevelt’s wording is a little grandiose, but I like his rhetoric. My failed ascent of Mt. Chimborazo during my travels in Ecuador also have helped to drive his point home.

• Life is a Journey. Enjoy it. While we must always have an eye out for what lies ahead, and create compelling visions of our future path, day to day we must live in the present. Enjoy each sip of coffee, take pride in every key typed in that long report, and never forget how important the bonds of friendship and family are to us.

• Know yourself. It sounds so simple, but it is an idea oft repeated in history and popular culture:

“Know thyself” - Socrates

“This above all, to thine own self be true” - Hamlet, Shakespeare

The degree to which we can understand ourselves determines our ability to move through life with less friction. Knowing oneself, a person can make decisions that allows them to fight their own tendencies less, and move more freely through life, whether in work, love, or other situations. This is a life-long undertaking.

I didn’t do PC expecting it to change me in any fundamental way, but it definitely has. It has something to do with the challenge of it all. Spending two years in a small village in a different country with little access to technology can be a very solitary endeavor.

At times you feel extremely isolated from friends and family, and unable to relate to the people you see on a daily basis in the country where you serve.

Ultimately, the neverending series of challenges led me to a lot of introspection. I was brought face-to-face with myself – the strengths and the weaknesses, for better or worse.

In my experience, I have found that if you can be kind enough to yourself during all those trials, then you will eventually leave with a better knowledge, and appreciation, of who you are. This is one of the best things any individual can do.

For any friends or family, future Peace Corps volunteers, or anyone that just happens to stumble upon this website, if you ever would like to get in touch, feel free to contact me via email at blake.hen@gmail.com.

Until then, enjoy the journey.