I have an incurable travel bug. I can’t help it; I just need to go explore the world every once in a while or I go completely stir-crazy. Traveling helps clear my mind of my everyday life in order to absorb new things, and the list of possibilities is infinite. Maybe it’s because I love learning about new places and cultures, or because my learning has made me want to see things in person, or simply that I love new experiences, but regardless, wanderlust is an essential part of my soul.
When I was younger, my parents made a point to take us somewhere new and interesting every year. I remember driving amongst a herd of bison, making my own rope, traipsing through Colonial Williamsburg (in period dress, of course), hiking past geysers and mud pots, riding a mule in the Grand Canyon, watching in awe as a white wolf trotted right behind our car, and having a long conversation with a voodoo priestess, and that’s only a sample. This history definitely inspired me to seek out knowledge and unique opportunities everywhere I went and has dramatically influenced the way I plan my own getaways now that I’m older.
One of my favorite things about new places is being exposed to new cultures. Even within the United States, there are so many sub-cultures, as well as numerous layers of history and tradition. I’ve also had the opportunity to go to England and France, and I’ve noticed the most subtle differences are actually the ones that stick out the most. Having lived my entire life in the state of Ohio, it’s very illuminating to see what “normal” means for people other than myself and my community. Being isolated from my “normal” makes me feel like a blank canvas. This was especially pertinent when I spent five days with a family is the suburbs of Paris, and couldn’t even use my own language, which fundamentally shifted the way I perceived everything around me. Most importantly, I’ve realized that we’re all very diverse from the outside, but as people, we’re all pretty much the same. Learning brings understanding, and understanding other cultures is essential to a complete worldview in my opinion.
Travel is also a fantastic release from the stresses of ordinary life. It’s hard to remember something like an essay when I’m trying my first foie gras (which was quite good, by the way) or snorkeling with manatees. Everyone needs the occasional break, especially in particularly high-stress jobs (and college).
Paradoxically, traveling gives me a much greater sense of responsibility than I would have at home. I’m more aware of what’s happening around me, I’m mindful of the risks, but I’m also more confident. Somehow it’s much easier to walk into a strange building like I own the place than it is to walk into class every morning. There are no precedents whatsoever. That alone is unbelievably liberating. Moreover, I have a greater responsibility for where precisely I’m doing and what precisely I’m doing. In any voyage, there’s an inevitability of getting lost at least once or twice. Getting un-lost is a deceptively important skill that I’ve refined over years of misadventures (which I will not divulge here). Plus, planning a trip without the help of my parents, like the road trip I took with my best friend before we both went to separate colleges, forces me into a mode of adult thinking, which I wasn’t used to. But despite my apprehensions, I came out of the experience feeling much more capable and ready to take on the next challenge with gusto.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I dislike being home. In fact, I can appreciate being home even more once I’ve spent a little time away. Whenever I come back, I’m able to discover something new about the place I thought I knew every inch of, and it’s like an extra adventure. I’ve also never realized how very much Ohio has been ingrained in me until I leave. I can only stare at so much corn until I go crazy, but I’ve also learned to appreciate the epic beauty of a sunset over flat farmland.
In short, travel, to me, is not just a desire: it’s a need. It doesn’t matter if it’s an hour’s drive or a twelve-hour plane ride. There’s always something new to see or do, and for every experience I’ve had, I feel richer, braver, and wiser. And that’s something I wouldn’t trade for the whole, wide world.
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