They say bad luck tends to occur in threes. Who “they” is, I’m not sure but so far in my experience “they” are correct. I don’t want to sit here and go through all the unlucky times I’ve had in my life but, I will say I’ve always heard the saying “when I rains it pours”. The good news about the rule of threes is that there is an end to the rain. Despite what you may believe it’s not going to rain forever. It’s really hard to tell yourself that in the moment and actually believe it but, sometimes I feel like it’s the only way out.

Let’s short story our way out of this bad luck…when I went to Thailand I had a backpack. In said backpack was my clothing yes, but also my sketches from the elephant camp and my journal. Inside my journal was details about my trip but most importantly a letter I had written to myself two years ago when I decided to make traveling and living more spontaneously a priority. Since then I have come to learn there is a definitely a price that comes with the adventurism. Accidents happen, life doesn’t go as planned and sometimes things don’t occur on your expected timeline. The panic that creeps up on you when losing something sentimental while traveling is quite mind boggling. The worst part about it all is, usually that finding said thing is out of your control, and replacing it is next to impossible.

When I was in Thailand the story of getting my bag back ended up being both adventurous and miraculous. It also involved many different people from all over the world which was amazing to be apart of and a fun story to retell. At the time during all the chaos, I had a friend with me who complimented me on my composure. I remember sitting in the police station waiting to file a missing item report and laughing. I don’t remember what I was giggling about but I was making jokes and smiling in the midst of my tears. Right now with my bag gone again, I am trying to find that same composure that I had in Thailand a few months ago.

Things happen in threes. I believe the good and the bad things happen in threes. Right now I am grieving my plans to go to Duke for grad school, and also grieving my bag. My grandpa used to say “If you think negatively, negative things will happen to you. If you think positively, positive things will happen to you.” Duke was not right for me, and I will get a really fun story out of losing my bag. But for now, it’s time to start writing a new bucket list ❤️