Christina Kim rebounding after years of pain, depression, "I am going to miss Chipotle."
That was one of Christina Kim's last thoughts as she boarded a plane in Orlando on Sept. 16 to begin an 8-week, 7-country, 35,000-mile expedition across the LPGA Tour's expanded globe.
Two carry-ons weighing about 80 pounds combined were within reach while her golf bag and two larger pieces of luggage, each tipping the scales at 70 pounds, were stowed beneath with the cargo.
Trying to get a stronger grip on her life after struggling with injury and depression that spiraled so downward she once had suicidal thoughts, Kim happily set sail on her journey. And she touched down in China twice, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Mexico.
This week she's back in the U.S. for the LPGA Tour's season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club.
Through her travels and grappling with little things that can seem like molehills but can turn into heaps of trouble -- doing laundry, making sure to have the proper currency, figuring out how much things cost, coping with cancelled and delayed flights, dealing with visas, finding suitable dining and remembering to use bottled water when brushing her teeth -- Kim merrily bounced around the globe week after week.
"I was in a better place starting this year," Kim said Tuesday before a practice round. Her depression was once so debilitating that her thoughts turned to jumping off a balcony or a bridge or driving into oncoming traffic.
"I didn't know what I was going to encounter. But I knew nothing was going to be as hard as life was for me from 2010 through 2012.
" … As soon as I hit my 30th birthday (on March 15), I had this epiphany that I didn't know anything. And that's OK. It's better than being in your 20s and thinking you know everything. Now I'm excited to learn anything. I was stoked at the start of this journey. I love travel and I love miles."
Kim busted into a huge laugh and accompanying smile after delivering that last line, the same laugh and smile that pierced eardrums and lit up the room on the LPGA Tour for nearly a decade. But the gregarious Kim suffered a back injury in 2010 that siphoned much of her strength and drained her of most of her best golf.
She also dealt with elbow and forearm problems that eventually resulted in a torn tendon, which knocked her out of action last season.
She had to return to Q School in 2012.
But the life of the party returned to the winner's circle last week at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico, her first victory in nine years. Overcoming the serious hurdles she confronted has put the smile and laughter back into her life.
"I was so happy for her," said Michelle Wie, who burst into tears while hugging Kim after she finished off her win. "I was so excited about her, just knowing what she went through, knowing how much she wanted it. A lot of people were very excited to see that happen, as well. She stayed for four hours afterwards kissing babies, kissing foreheads, kissing everyone. It was like a kissing booth line. But it was just amazing. She signed every single autograph.
" … I feel like a lot of people can really learn from it and kind of just see what she went through and know that there is another day, kind of what her mom told her all the time."
Kim has one week left before heading back home to Orlando. She isn't discouraged that the season is ending as she is hitting her peak. It's time, she said, to decompress. And look forward to tomorrow.
"I will stay in bed for about five days," said Kim, who said she received 131 text messages, 20 Facebook messages, 11 direct messages on Twitter, eight voice mails and 25 emails within two hours of putting out in Mexico.
"There are no plans for a lavish vacation. I just want to relish the ability to just do nothing. I have no problems with the year ending. There is no reason to go and get a lot of rest and get ready to peak at the start of the 2015 season."
