“There’s no place like home,” according to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. While that’s definitely true, for those with a severe case of wanderlust, not even reciting those words can diminish the desire to travel.

When I was twelve, I almost died. And as cliché as it sounds, I’ve had a feeling with me ever since then. Even at twelve years old, I felt like there was so much more to this world that I needed to see, so I seized every chance I could to go somewhere new.

The world is big. There are so many places that have yet to be explored by mankind. There are parts of the world that have never seen a computer or a phone. There are parts of the world that worry less about likes on Instagram and more about respect from members of their community. Those are the places that I want to see. My longing to see more of this world doesn’t stem from how awesome my Instagram would look (though I know it’d be amazing). It stems from my desire to see the people I share this world with.

To this day, I still haven’t seen as much of the world as I would have liked, but I don’t think I ever will. I know not every place is going to be as great as I want it to be, but embracing this world means we have to embrace every part of it. Maybe by doing that, we can make it better.

Wanderlust is defined as a strong desire to travel. But I’d like to expand that definition. It’s a strong desire to not only travel, but to live a life meeting and knowing as many of the good people in this world as possible.