Maybe it is the mountains you will never climb, or maybe it is the people you will never meet, or maybe it is the food you will never taste or the sunset you will never see. No matter what you are missing out on, the fact of the matter is that the world has something to offer everyone that we can simply not find within the confines of our own borders. Until you go out into the world and travel, until you dare to venture on your own and explore, until you have the kind of courage it takes to leave everything but a suitcase behind, there are things you will be missing out on, and lessons you will never learn. I know more of the world and its people than I ever could have dreamed to know, and though it is not nearly enough, here is a list of five things that you will never learn until you leave this great country we call home and seek a greater adventure.
1. You learn how big the world really is. The world is great and we take up this tiny little corner of it. You will never learn how vast the lands and opportunities of the world are until you dare to leave our soils and venture elsewhere.
2. You learn how capable you are of surviving on your own. I am sure that there are thousands of students my age out there who are capable of doing all the grown-up things I can't, like getting laundry done or paying taxes. Even these self-sufficient prodigies, however, don't know how capable they are of surviving, because until you are in another country completely separated from your family, your culture, and even your language, you don't know what kind of strength you have and how ready you are to thrive on your own.
3. You learn how much goodness there is in people. It is the strangers who recognize your lost expression and offer directions, the people who cook for you and invite you into their homes, the ones who treat you like a local even though you're not -- those people will give you faith in humanity and the people that compose it.
4. You meet the most incredible people. Chances are, the people who dare to venture the way you choose to have the most fundamental things in common with you. When you travel, you are forced together with a group of incredibly diverse individuals, but you learn to love one another and rely on one another. They are the ones who become your family and your home away from home, and they are the ones who will shape you more that you could ever imagine.
5. You learn what it takes to make you happy. When you see thousands of people with a handful of possessions but smiles brighter than you have ever encountered, you realize that happiness comes from who you are, not what you have. You will learn that you can find infinite happiness with nothing but a passport, a suitcase, and the faith that you will be okay.
Seeking adventure is not always easy. Speaking other languages: not always easy. Paying for a trip over seas: not always easy. Having the courage to leave your friends, family, and all that you own behind: definitely not easy. That being said, if there is anything I have learned from venturing out on my own, it is that the easy things in life do nothing to teach you about who you are and what you are capable of. Yes, sometimes it's okay to seek the comfort of your couch and Netflix, but you will never learn anything about the world and the people that make it up from that couch. You will never find incredible consuming passions on that couch, and that couch certainly does not offer the friendships of the people who want to explore and change the world. Those things can only be found when you dare to venture outside our country's borders and see how big and how wonderful the world can be.
