Travel. While you can and often.
The first time I can vividly remember getting on a plane and going somewhere was when I was eleven, or maybe ten, and was going to Miami with my grandma, aunt, and younger cousin. It was July and we were celebrating my aunt’s birthday with the trip. I still remember looking excitingly over my grandma’s shoulder as she looked on Priceline and other flight comparison sites. Then, I was completely ecstatic at choosing the window seat on the flight, researching the airline and how much snacks and carryon cost, and picking out my first “adult” piece of luggage: a pink suitcase with unicorn stickers. Nothing could beat that feeling. Now, almost ten years later I still feel the giddiness of picking a place to visit and going, as if I was a child.
My freshmen year I went out the country twice: for a week with an immersion group to Nicaragua and then for two weeks for my Erasmus class in Cambodia. While outside the country I got to stop and visit places like Singapore, Mexico City, and Taiwan. In Cambodia, I ate a cricket, hiked up one of the seven wonders of the world, visited monks protecting the rainforest, and caught live frogs at night. Trips that no doubt cost thousands of dollars but by the grace of the almighty and some luck, it was severely discounted and free. These are places that before I started college I never really thought of, or seriously thought I could go to without a full-time and paying job. I knew I wanted to go out of the country. I had grown up watching Rick Steves: Europe and Samantha Brown on WttW, so you can say the flame for me was ignited in my youth. As I got older I realized the importance of travel with whatever opportunity you can especially if you’re a student and have time.
Travel ignites the passion for the world. It changes the way you view the world, giving you the chance to see it as you were a kid. Can’t choose between Paris and London? Go to both. Want to explore Angkor Watt and visit Ho Chin Min City? Get on a bus a go. Your not limited to picking one and often you don’t have the time to circle back. So your impulsiveness and open-mindedness is running at full compacity.
You have the time. As students, we’re very lucky to have very flexible schedules. You might have class at nine in the morning but then not again till six, or classes only Tuesday and Thursday and the rest are free. Maybe you work in the evenings and free during the day. The point is time. You have it. Why stay on campus? Why go to the same coffee shop over and over again? If you go to school in a city like me, there are Corgi meetups at the park, Women in Tech conferences downtown, and free tours in various neighborhoods. Travel does not always mean getting on a plane. If you can’t fly, take a car or bus around the city or to the various places around. Even if its only a day trip or weekend adventure.
No two trips are the same. The allure of travel is that there is no uniform order. It’s always a surprise. So maybe you went to New York and learned the history of Harlem and got to visit the murals, but then you visit San Francisco and happen to catch drum players having a session in Golden Gate Park. Nothing is ever the same so don’t expect it and that should lure you in.
You grow as a person. While yes you can consider yourself “cultured” for visiting many places stateside or not, but figuring out alone how to navigate a airport in another language, what to do if your hotel is infested or worse, finding food when on a Sunday in some countries, builds grit. Not only that but you develop a love for the beauty and the places of our world that often gets overshadowed by the craziness of humanity.
So please I beg you, travel! There is much to see out there.