Ever since I started learning how to drive, I have had this strange obsession with roads and intersections. I would play the "Intersection Game" with my parents, a game in which they would give me the name of an intersection and I would tell them everything that was located in that specific place. I have an ongoing list of my favorite roads, and I have very strong opinions on my least favorite ones.
The other night, I decided to visit one of my favorite apps on my phone: the map. I had originally intended to use the app to locate a park in Kansas City, but I then proceeded to explore the rest of Kansas with it. Somehow I ended up in Australia, and I ended up pressing a button which enabled a satellite view of the world. Since I was viewing this at midnight, my map showed half of the world in darkness with the exception of city lights.
And then I started crying.
I'm a very empathetic person, so I show my emotions very easily. But why the heck was I crying at a map?
But just think: right now, there are thousands of cities with people who are out enjoying the nightlife, whether they're sleeping, shopping, partying, eating, etc. All of them are people like us. Just think of the hundreds of thousands of people who are awake right now having hundreds of thousands of different conversations in dozens of different languages. We may never know 99 percent of these people, let alone meet them. They likely have never thought of us.
Now, I have been very fortunate in my life. I have traveled more of the world in the past 19 years than many people will travel in a lifetime. I've visited half of the continents and seen many famous landmarks. I absolutely love traveling, and I have many friends who share this same passion.
The thing is, there are still so many places where I haven't been. There are still so many things I want to see and do, and I know that many others feel the same way. Unfortunately, not all of us are able to, whether because of financial reasons or lack of time. And this upsets me so much. Why is it so expensive to explore the world in which we live?
I'm still looking at the world map on my phone, and I am still in awe. I find joy in the most trivial of things, and today it happens to be the map app. As much as I have always loved traveling, I have never truly felt what many call "wanderlust" until just now.
It took an app on my phone to make me realize how much of this world I've yet to explore. Now it's up to me to actually explore it.
