If you’ve ever been traveling, you know the hustle and bustle of planning and embarking on a trip. Whether it’s with family, friends, others, or even alone, traveling takes a lot of preparing (and packing!). Typically, the few hours leading up to a trip are filled with a lot of scrambling, hollering, and moving. As chaotic as it all may be, even for me, traveling has allowed me to explore the awe and wonder of the world.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved going somewhere new. From a new part of town to a new city entirely, everywhere I went carried significance to me. Although I can’t write about everywhere I’ve been–that would take too long!–I’m going to share two of my favorite cities with you, especially because I have family members who live there: San Antonio, Texas and Chicago, Illinois. Wherever you are from, it’s gonna be quite a trip, so pack your things and let’s go!
San Antonio, Texas:
San Antonio, Texas is a wonderful city. If you’ve never been to Texas, I would certainly say it’s different than other states I’ve been to. There is definitely a fair share of country-ish places and people, but there is also a lot of history there. For example, there’s the Alamo (the third picture), which served as a mission before the revolution, during which Texans fought for their independence from Mexico, and the Riverwalk (both pictures below), where “Selena’s Bridge” is located (for all y’all Spanish music fans out there). There are plenty of beautiful spots to visit within the city, but of course, my favorite spot is my aunt’s house.
I’ve been to San Antonio a total of three times. The first time I went was on a road trip with my grandparents when I was 10. Departing from Oxnard, California, it took us somewhere between 16 and 24 hours to arrive; you can imagine the restlessness one would experience in a car for that long, but I managed to survive. I remember how awestruck I was when I got to explore the city; it almost felt like another world.The third time I went to San Antonio was in the winter of 2017, which was especially fun because most of my mom’s side of the family went to surprise my aunt for her birthday, which lands on New Year’s Eve. Because we were there during the winter, we got to experience hail, which was pretty crazy for a Californian. The weather was, on average, about 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 to -1 degrees Celsius), so you can only imagine how close I felt to freezing. When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s day, we sought to celebrate with fireworks, but it was so cold we could hardly get them to spark! It was definitely a fun time though; I would just recommend going to Texas in the warmer seasons.
Chicago, Illinois:
Chicago, Illinois is also a wonderful city, though it’s definitely filled with more buildings and people. It’s so urbanized that almost everyone walks or takes public transportation to get around, and most of the “scenery” is skyscrapers and stores. There’s a lot of history there as well with the Sears Tower, which is now called the Willis Tower, and was formerly the tallest building in the world at 110 stories high! You can ride an elevator all the way to the 103rd floor, where they have walls of windows to look out into the city, as well as a Skydeck. If you have a fear of heights, though, don’t do this, as both the walls and floor of the sky deck are clear windows (as pictured below)!
I’ve been to Chicago twice and, whereas I only have one aunt and two cousins in San Antonio, I have over 50 distant family members there. So large is the number of family members in Illinois that I could probably find them by searching for my last name in a phone book! Chicago is a wonderful city, especially if you love to explore new scenery. Of course, it gets tough with all the people, traffic, and noise, but hey, it’s a big city.
Let me tell you right now, they don’t call Chicago “the Windy City” for nothing; I don’t remember much of my first visit there, since I spent most of that trip meeting my extended family for the first time, but the second time around, which was this past March, I did a lot more exploring. Like San Antonio, Texas, the temperature there was around 20 degrees on average and, of course, it was super windy. If it wasn’t raining, it was snowing–real snow!–which was a cool experience. The wind was of no help, though, and it reached speeds so quick that my umbrella would fly out of my hands! I’m pretty sure I only survived that trip by wrapping myself in layers of clothes and indulging myself in many cups of hot chocolate or tea. So, I wouldn’t recommend traveling to Chicago in the winter because of the weather, but if you happen to do it anyway, one fun thing is that Millennium Park has an ice skating rink (pictured below) just for the season. The well-known Millennium Park is also home to the year-round bean sculpture (second picture below), “Cloud Gate,” a fun spot to take pictures!
This trip was also a birthday surprise, but this time it was for my Grandma’s 60th birthday. Unlike my aunt who lives in San Antonio (which is why we flew out to Texas for her birthday), we took my Grandma with us from California to Chicago since she hadn’t seen our Chicago family in years. I have to say, nothing was more joyful and rewarding than seeing her light up as she reunited with everyone at her surprise party.
Besides family, though, I love traveling because I get to see a new part of the world, no matter how close or far. Even if I’ve been somewhere before, I feel like I always come back home with something new, and I don’t mean souvenirs. Everywhere I go gives me a better understanding of the world. Even though traveling means I’m physically going far away from my house in Oxnard, California, I feel like I actually grow closer to the larger home: the outer world. Exploring and experiencing other cities, countries, and cultures helps me realize that home is not just a material thing–a place we rent or own–but a feeling. It’s a feeling of understanding and unity, a feeling you really get when you travel. I know it can be expensive, crazy, stressful, and/or annoying to plan and go on a trip, but I highly encourage doing so. There’s no feeling quite like seeing and experiencing something new.
So go ahead, set the date. Buy that ticket. Make those plans. Go out into the world and explore. Whether you’re visiting family, going sight-seeing, or both, disconnect from your own world and explore the one we share. I guarantee that once you do, you won’t feel so far away from home anymore; the reality is, home is this world we share. Home is everywhere.
All Photos Courtesy of the Author