I’ve caught the travel bug. It’s true when they say that once you start, you can’t stop, but I didn’t expect it to take hold of me so quickly. Last summer, I studied abroad, and now I’ve given in to all the stereotypes of students who study abroad, constantly bringing it up in conversation. I can’t help it! I genuinely feel as though the experience changed my life for the better. To me, this is because the experience was real travel rather than what we would typically consider tourism. What’s the difference, and how can we structure our lives to include more authentic travel experiences?
My experience was special because I got to stay on a remote Greek island for three weeks with a wonderful host family that owned a small hotel and restaurant on a cliffside. I learned about their culture, food, and language from them throughout the trip and got to spend time exploring the island from their perspective. We went on adventures, like exploring neighboring towns, and I got forced out of my comfort zone doing activities like jumping off of cliffs into the sea. It was so much fun for my cohort, but nothing like a typical vacation. Relaxing wasn’t at the forefront of our minds. The experience would have been a lot different if we were staying at something like an all-inclusive resort, or if we hadn’t developed relationships with local Greeks who showed us their ways of life. I learned so much about another part of the world, and also myself, because of them, and I would never trade the experience for a more luxurious one!
Real travel gives you the opportunity to do some soul-searching. Anthony Bourdain famously said that “Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living.” When we travel, we learn adaptability, we learn what we really want out of life, and we make a stance against prejudice and a self-centered worldview. A vacation is nice, but usually doesn’t provide us with a real life-shaping experience unless we actively seek out those opportunities.Â
Since my trip, I’ve been working on making more travel plans. It’s never felt so important to me to see as much of the world and meet as many people as possible. However, it’s really common for other people to not quite understand why you would just drop everything to travel. Most people try to save money so that they can try to travel later in life. I’m working on reframing my mindset, though, as my priorities shift. Because I now know the ways that traveling lights me up, I don’t find it as realistic to wait to take trips like my Greece trip. I really do believe that traveling isn’t a reward for working hard — it’s an important part of the human experience.Â
My goal is to take a leap of faith and see the world while I am still young and able, because it’s a privilege to be able to do so, and tomorrow isn’t promised. I see more personal value in travel than in other, more traditional goals pushed onto people my age! If you feel called to see more of the world, too, there are smart ways to do it. Sometimes it will feel scary, or maybe like you should have used your money and time differently (working towards your career, saving, etc.), but at the end of the day, the things you might gain from the experience are usually priceless.