Wanderlust: (n.) A strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world.
Wanderlusts are humans who can’t seem to stay in one place for too long. Wanderlusts feel a pull to see the entire earth, and a natural tendency to wander. I would consider myself a wanderlust, and I address this letter to all those other wanderlusts out there. You are not alone. I am just like you. I share the joys, desires, and conflicts that accompany the wanderlust.
While the idea of being a wanderlust may sound appealing, I empathize with you in the hidden struggles we all share. I understand how it feels to have a soul that is never at rest. I also have never had a place to call my “forever home.”
One day I would like to have a place in which I could stay forever, but you understand how hard that is when we feel a constant pull to leave and go somewhere new. I feel the same dissatisfaction that you feel when staying in one place for too long. I share the same anxiety you do when we are forced to commit to something long-term.
To us wanderlusts, commitment is terrifying, and other people don’t seem to grasp that. Not to mention the impracticality of stopping in the middle of life to travel. We understand that isn’t really possible for most of us with obstacles like school, work, money, and family, amongst others. So we just accept that we have to swallow down that uneasy feeling in our soul and wait until our next adventure makes itself possible.
The life of a wanderlust does have its perks, though. Nobody knows how to adventure like we do. Leading a life of noncommitment makes for an easy time of picking up what we’ve got and moving along where life takes us next. We place our value in memories and experiences, rather than objects, and there is something to be admired about that. We seek new sights, and we are always on our toes ready to run anywhere to find them. To us wanderlusts, boundaries are more like suggestions in the way that we are willing to do what it takes to go where we need to go.
Perhaps the most prominent perk of being a wanderlust is seeing the world, and for good reason. Exploring the earth is one of the raddest things that we as humans can do. Our world is breathtaking, and we wanderlusts can truly grasp the fullness of it. Not everyone can understand how we think, but stargazing on the top of a mountain, swimming under a hidden waterfall, seeing the sunrise in a rural country, or swimming in the ocean can give a glimpse of why we are the way that we are.
Wanderlusts have our struggles, but we also have many joys. It may not be the easiest life, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing.
