Traveling while in college is a unique experience that has a limited window of possibility. When you're a student, you're at a time in your life when you aren't bound by responsibility. Sure, you have classes, homework, and maybe a part-time job or an organization you need to take care of, but these aren't things that have you trapped. You can take a few days off from them to enjoy your life, and you should. You will spend the rest of your life with a 9-5 job, a kid or two, a spouse and bills that need to be paid. Escaping your daily routine will only become more and more implausible as time goes on. College is your last chance of final freedom before you blossom into a full-grown adult.
The beauty of college is that you're surrounded by people in the same situation as you. You all have similar responsibilities that you can set aside for a weekend trip, everyone is on a broke college kid budget so they won't shame you for always finding the cheapest thing on the menu and eating it as your meal, regardless of what it is, and you all understand the importance of honesty when it comes to telling your friends what their best (and worst) angles are when trying to take the perfect picture to commemorate the trip. Everyone is young and adventurous and ready to see the world. Yes, someday you could find the perfect spouse and have phenomenal kids who all possess these qualities, but trips to places like Disneyland just aren't the same when suddenly you have to let your kids be more excited than you.
After graduation, you and your friends will inevitably part ways. You'll all find jobs in different states or attend different grad schools, some of you will get married before the others, some of you might move to another country — you'll all be on different time tables. Everything will change. For now, you are together. Don't take that time for granted. Take advantage of who and what you have now, and go see the world together before it's too late.
The benefits of traveling, regardless of when you do it, have been proven repeatedly. You gain experience, you understand different cultures, you find inspiration, and you learn more about people, the places you've been, and the history of the world.
Logistics aside, the world is an amazing place. There are so many phenomenal places that are waiting to be discovered. A breakfast sandwich at a cute internet café in northeast Los Angeles (I highly recommend Silverlake Coffee Co.) is a completely different experience than eating a bagel in the bustling city of New York. You do yourself a great injustice if you remain in a safe zone forever because maybe traveling isn't financially feasible or you don't have interest in leaving your hometown. With as many budget travel options as there are available, visiting a new place doesn't have to break the bank (stay in an Air B&B, fly with a budget airline like Spirit and pack light, rent a car from Fox Rent A Car, etc.) No physical possession can come near in comparison to the experience of seeing something new, and no savings account is worth missing out on life.
The world is waiting. There are plane tickets to be bought and oceans to be seen. Find your most adventurous friends and pack a suitcase. Fill your itinerary with extraordinary locations and find out what it's like to make a discovery -- both about yourself and the world. Do something that Ellie from "Up" would approve of, and remember:
