ON TRAVELING

FRI. Sept 28 2012
listening to: Mumford & Sons, Babel

Have you read this article yet? Converge Magazine wrote an article about traveling young and the author could not have put it in better words. Oh...you haven't read it? Well, go read the article and then come back to my blog.

Done? Good. Let's continue.

"You won’t always be young. And life won’t always be just about you. So travel, young person. Experience the world for all its worth. Become a person of culture, adventure, and compassion. While you still can."

"This is my calling! My life! I don’t want what you have. I will always be an adventurer.”

Adventure.

We all crave it. We read about it in novels, close our eyes and wish for it but didn't you know it is right in front of you? It's on that plane/train/bus ticket you have yet to purchase, in the pages of your passport, stuck between the tires of your car and right in the palm of your hand. It's that road trip you have planned on taking but just "never had a good weekend" and that international trip you just "couldn't afford". It happens when you escape your world for a little bit to discover another. It's what you get when you travel.

It is easy to find a comfortable place and stay in it. There's nothing wrong with that, but I urge you all to get out of your comfort zone even if it's just the next county over. Traveling doesn't have to cost you thousands. It is exploring the unknown. I love nothing more than visiting a new city, checking out the local places and discovering what makes the heart beat in that particular town. I think every place has a little something to offer in the world. Whether it's a quick trip to Atlanta or a month-long trip to the Philippines (I recently did both), it changes you. It challenges you to be lost in the unknown and start from scratch because only when you're lost do you find yourself.

When asked the question, "What is one thing you would love to do right now?" many people reply "Travel". If I could drop all responsibilities and had an infinite amount of money that is all I would do! Wouldn't you? Most of us want it, we crave it, we desire it, we cling to those two week vacations from work. Make sure you travel as soon as you can because one day you may not have that luxury anymore. 

Travel my dear friends.
Enjoy your life, spend a little bit of your earnings and reach out because the world really is in arms reach. You may find yourself falling in love - with a place, a person, an idea and a new perspective. Traveling refreshes you, energizes you, changes you, moves you, and makes you a better person. A person who is cultured, who understands the world around them, who breaks barriers and begins the little steps of linking us all together. We all live in this crazy world together and really should get to know one another. There's something great in all of us and traveling can help us discover that.

The feelings I get when I travel are indescribable. I wish I could capture the moments when I rode an elephant, saw the Madrid skyline, experienced the night markets in The Philippines and Thailand, ziplined through the Costa Rican mountains or swam near waterfalls with more than my camera and my stories. I wish I could describe those sensations, the scents and make you feel the wind or how the water felt, but it is merely impossible. You must experience it for yourself.

Next time you are stuck between "What should I do with my life?" or "What should I do this weekend?"...travel dearest friends. It would be an absolute shame for this beautiful world to go unseen, for cultures to be unknown and for people to stay strangers.

And this is why I travel.