Hello my lovely readers! I’m Gabriella and I am so excited to welcome you all to my new travel column: “Going Global with Gab”. I am honored to be able to share my tips and experiences with HerCampus followers.
I guess my first article should be a bit of an introduction as to why I love to travel. The question I encounter most frequently is “Why do you travel so often?”
Although I think it is a totally absurd question (I mean, why wouldn’t I want to travel???) I do have an answer.
There is something so magical about taking off on a plane to visit a place you’ve never been before knowing that you will be an entirely different person on your way back home. I am humbled, time and time again, by the things I witness and experience.
I love finding bits and pieces of my soul scattered about in cities and villages around the world.
I found a part of me one Parisian evening as I watched the brilliant orange sunset with my younger brother at the very top of the Eiffel Tower, completely out of breath from running up so many stairs.
I found a part of me when I watched my mom cliff-jumping in the natural pools of the Arubian desert, her screams and laughs causing everyone to stop and admire her.
I found a part of me as I strolled through the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, Missouri and looked over at my boyfriend, standing in a field of pink tulips and felt nothing but love surrounding me.
I find parts of me every time I head home to Puerto Rico and feel my dad in heaven watching me scarf down churrasco con platanos maduros with the messiest smile plastered across my face.
Every adventure I embark upon is another patch I can weave into the tapestry of my life. When I am old and wrinkly, and far too weak to travel, I want to have the most colorful, brilliant tapestry to wrap myself in.
Traveling puts me in my place when I need it the most. It reminds me how short life can be, how hard other people have it, and how blessed I am for what I have.
Travel is my therapy. Travel mends the cracks in my heart when they seem to be growing. Travel lifts my downtrodden spirits with tropical flowers and turquoise oceans.
I hope that this column becomes one that inspires others to get up and go wherever their hearts desire. I hope that I can provide stories and advice that make traveling seem as easy and as life changing as it is.
My first suggestion, in honor of my first post, is to never be afraid. I’ll admit it… traveling can be petrifying at times. It is horrifying to think of all the things that can go wrong with travel plans, language barriers, etc. However, in my experience, sometimes the messiest days make the best stories. Once you let go of the fear, a million doors open for you.
“In the end, she became more than what she expected. She became the journey, and like all journeys, she did not end, she just simply changed directions and kept going.” R.M. Drake