Man, I feel like a woman!

This is a self-indulgent post, so don't say I didn't warn you (also, if you read the title and didn't realize the kind of content you'd be reading, that's your own fault): 

Today a thirteen year old girl asked me was the best lesson I’ve learned from traveling.  I paused for a moment, preparing to talk about how little I like German beers, and that Czech malts are the only ones for me, then really stopped to think about it.  

This was my chance to be completely honest, and there seemed like no better audience to hear it.  I told her I had learned that I want my self-confidence to be based on my brains.  After a little more introspection I said I wanted my self-confidence to be based on my brains and my actions.  

When I say brains, I don't mean intelligence, I mean my mind.  I aspire for my self-confidence to stem from the fact that I have my own unique take on the world and that’s the most important thing I can offer anyone.  I’m not saying that I don’t love getting made-up for a party but I’m learning to be less scared about going to a bar without makeup.  I’m learning that I may use 2-in-one shampoo to make my backpack a bit lighter, but that doesn’t make me any less of a woman, and it certainly makes me a happier traveler.  I’m learning that I can have 4 outfits and still be an a good companion for a leisurely stroll and chat. 

I know that this is the same thing many of you have heard before in other forms… Love thyself, for your beauty comes from within.  But it’s one thing to prosthelytize it, and a whole other to know it.  

I may wake up tomorrow with a face covered in acne and I’ll be wearing clothes that I have used every other day for three months, but am I any less of a strong, capable, and occasionally funny woman?  

No. 

(I just dug through mud in order to reach the GeoCaching treasure in Ljubljana... I sorta miss digging up earthworms.)