Your feet will bring you where your heart is. 

Irish proverb

I've spent a lot of time in Ireland.

When I was 16 I moved to Northern Ireland to spend a year as an exchange student, and I never really shook away the itch to travel or my love of Ireland after that.

It's a beautiful country, although the rain could drive a person mad. And most of the Irish people I've known and loved over the years have been just a little bit crazy, so maybe there's something to it.

Ireland has always had some lingering romance and sadness to it. Maybe it's the windswept hills or the stormy seas. It might be the old music and art, or the crumbling castles that dot the countryside. Whatever it is, it's always been there, and my sense of it has grown stronger over the years.

The people are good-hearted and stubborn. They tend to be animated story-tellers, bull-headed arguers, and easy-going laughers. Some of the best people I've known in my life have been Irish, and although I'd love Ireland anyways, I'll always love it especially for them.