“Life in Color” by OneRepublic is one of my all-time favorite songs. I can even share the exact moment I realized it.
I stepped off the wobbly ledge 50 feet above the emerald grass below, closed my eyes, and soared across the jungle of Rivera Maya, Mexico. My life depended on a harness and thin, cabled zip-line.
Now, I must tell you that I am not too fond of heights. At all.
It was challenging to pry my eyes open after I made that initial leap off the platform, but when I did, I was surrounded by the utter beauty of miles and miles of vividly green trees, piercing blue sky, and a great, sapphire ocean. Tears welled up in my eyes, and the only song playing in my mind at that moment was “Life in Color”. I kept thinking to myself that this, THIS really was life in color.
The times I feel I am experiencing “life in color” is when I am able to see—and appreciate—the corners of this incredible world we are blessed to call home. Ever since that day on the zip-line, that uplifting OneRepublic song reminds me of my desire to travel and experience as much of this world as possible.
I believe I am not alone in this, for it seems like majority of the people have that deep desire to travel. We hear and see countless people wanting to see the world, longing to experience different and new cultures, hoping to find themselves as they get lost in the adventures of the world.
I can confidently say that I have found pieces of myself hidden in cities halfway across the globe.
My family and I piled into our car, drove to the airport, and embarked on our two week exploration through Italy on June 14, 2015. I remember the trip like it was yesterday. In that short amount of time we traveled the country, I had never felt so alive. I was enchanted by all the diversity I came into contact with. I was amazed by the complexity of the rich Italian history, relaxed by the peacefulness and simplicity of the lush countryside, and fascinated by the Italian language.
I believe as humans, when we travel, we learn. We come face-to-face with the beauty of diversity. We encounter the sights and the sounds and the smells of something completely new to us. We are reminded of the fact that there is so much in this world. There are people and places that we may never even know. There are a myriad of lessons to be learned outside the boundaries of our comfort zones.
My trip to Italy was like a crack in the world I created in my mind. I had clearly crafted a picture of what I thought Italy would be like through my studies and just pure imagination. When I finally lived it, a spark was ignited somewhere in my soul. I had a revelation that I wanted—I needed—to experience more. Talk more. Eat more. Explore more. Adventure more.
Maybe that's what makes traveling so enthralling. We are faced with the realization that there is just so much more out there. As we experience the world, we're able to grasp the fact that we are just a fleck. We observe the richness and beauty of a fresh landscape. We read history books containing years someone else's story. We learn about (or maybe even work to change) the poverty and pain in places much different than our homes.
The words "Not all who wander are lost" are splattered across dozens of posters and strewn across the Internet countless times. As much of a cliché that is, I agree with it. Not all people who travel are looking to find something. But, on the other hand, I believe that traveling (or "wandering") awakens lost parts of our soul. It patches up holes we didn't know we had, and allows us to feel and experience situations differently. Traveling pushes us to grow into people we didn't even know we could become.
