The world is so big, and I've seen so little of it. One of my main goals in life is to travel and see and experience as much as I can in this short lifetime of mine. However, being a college student forces me to put this goal on hold--for the most part. I know the importance of college, and I have goals for my future career that are in sight as I focus on my academics at this point in my life. But when an opportunity arose to take a random, three-day vacation in the middle of the semester, I just couldn't pass it up.
My boyfriend was going to drive all the way from our home here in Ohio to Provincetown, Massachusetts to get his brother in Cape Cod, who had worked there all summer. He didn't want to make the long, 13-hour drive by himself, so he asked me to tag along. The first (as well as the next 12) times he asked me, I had no intentions of going with him. He was planning to leave on a Sunday night and then stay in Massachusetts until Wednesday morning, and there was no way I was interested in missing three days of class. Being present in the college classroom is much more important than movies make it seem, and I knew what the consequences would be if I missed that much school. However, the final time he asked me was two weeks before he planned to depart, and for whatever reason, I suddenly just had to go with him.
I examined what the consequences would be if I missed those specific three days of classes, and I realized that the timing couldn't have worked out better. I had absolutely nothing planned for those days except watching a movie in one class, watching presentations in another, and work-shopping writing in another. In that moment, I knew that it was just meant to be. I was going to Provincetown.
My parents weren't happy with my choice to miss school and work, but I assured them I would make up the work before I even left and that school was nothing to be concerned about. That's exactly what I did, and before I knew it we were off to Provincetown for the mini vacation of a lifetime.
After the grueling, 13-hour drive, we finally arrived, and I immediately knew I had made the right decision. The town was incredible and full of interesting stores and people. It was surrounded by water--a bay on one side that, on a clear day, displayed the faded outline of Boston on the horizon, and the ocean on the other side. While I was there, I got to learn about the history of Provincetown by visiting the Pilgrim's Monument (most people don't know that the Pilgrims actually landed in Provincetown first before heading to Plymouth). I got to see artwork and architecture that I have never seen before. I got to visit the ocean and experience the most incredible sunset. I got to talk to people who gave me food for thought and ultimately changed the way I look at certain things. On our way home, I realized I had learned more in those three days in Massachusetts than I ever would've learned if I had gone to class.
Why did I do it? What made me suddenly change my mind and decide to take a chance on this mini vacation? I suppose what confirmed my decision to go was this thought: a year from now, would I look back on September 25th-28th and remember sitting in class and going through the motions of being a college student, or would I remember being spontaneous and driving hours to visit a place I had never been to before on the ocean? When I thought about it in this way, it was all so clear, and I do not for a second regret going to Provincetown instead of class.
Life is short. I want to experience as much as I can whenever I can, and this trip gave me that opportunity. Obviously, school comes before travel, since it will build me a concrete future that will ultimately give me more opportunities to see the world. If this were a two week vacation instead of a three day one, I wouldn't have gone for that reason. But because it was so doable, and because it felt like the world itself was urging me to go, I took the chance. Provincetown was one of the most incredible places I have ever been to, and I know that I was meant to be there. I am thrilled with my decision, and I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.
