“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate… And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again – to slow time and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”
– Pico Iyer, Why We Travel: A Love Affair With the World
I love to travel. I have since I was little. My dad likes to say I come by it naturally since he is a truck driver and my mom grew up a navy brat. My brother and I spent our school breaks going on the road with my dad or driving cross country in my grandparents’ RV. I enjoyed the adventure, the fresh start, and the break from our every day lives.
As I grew up, high school summers were spent on the Eastern shore of Maryland with my mom and stepfather. My stepfather was from that area but moved out west when he married my mom, so we wouldn’t have to relocate. Every summer though we talked about moving to East Coast and starting over. For me the eastern shore represented greener grass than the West Coast had to offer, but we never committed. It had a warmer ocean to enjoy, one you could stand to swim in and historic brick houses. You had to deal with the humidity but everything stayed green!
In college I participated in two study abroad trips, one to Sydney, Australia and the other to Athens, Greece. These experiences had me falling in love with new cultures and new freedoms. Traveling was romantic and a chance to figure out what I was made of thousands of miles away from anyone I knew. It didn’t hurt that I was also a college student in a country where the drinking age was 18 instead of 21. I caught the travel bug on those trips but I wish I could recall them with more clarity and appreciated the history more.
During college I spent a summer working in Denali National Park in Alaska. That introduced me to seasonal work. I found a whole new lifestyle, traveling while supporting yourself financially. It was an all inclusive way to experience a place for 4 to 6 months. After graduating from college, I moved every summer and winter season for a few years working in new places. Once I discovered how much money I could save working as a server or bartender, I was able to fund trips to Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and even moved to New Zealand to spend a year on a working holiday visa.
After that last trip which turned into 19 months abroad, I came back home to work on more permanent goals. I wanted to work toward my dream of owning land and building a home. Originally I planned on going solo as so many of my adventures have started out. I was lucky to reconnect with someone who wanted the same things. So now we’re starting another traveling chapter. We are taking the truck, the fifth wheel trailer, and our dog and heading back to the Southeast of the US to look at different states and towns and hopefully find the property of our dreams.
In some ways, I’ve made a career of travel. It’s addicting. When you’re traveling each day brings new discoveries, knowledge, and opportunities. Time slows down and everything is new and exciting. It wakes you up and snaps you out of your everyday routine. Travel shows you the world isn’t so scary and people from other cultures are the same as you in many ways. Everyone is just trying to live their lives and take care of their families. It opens your mind and if you’re traveling solo, you’re completely free of the box of anyone’s labels or expectations. Travel gives the chance for introspection and self reflection. It builds confidence and self-reliance. Whether it’s finding your way in a new city or dealing with unexpected red tape, you realize that you can depend on yourself and that you will figure things out.
What are your thoughts on travel? How do you travel and where do you go? Let me know in the comments below.
