I find myself completely enthralled with the idea of idea of going new places and experiencing the many things that each state or country has to offer. To me, it is a search for knowledge of how the world lives. I can only hope that my dream of traveling the world and everyone else’s will be one that comes to fruition. Growing up in a relatively small town has encouraged my imagination about the rest of the world to thrive.
We have all heard the many quotes related to traveling and the benefits of it. A simple one being, “To travel is to live.” I have always found this quote, in particular, to be captivating. The idea that life has so much to offer beyond my front door and past the border of my small town is so intriguing. As far as I have seen and experienced, this phrase couldn't be truer. Over the years, I have had many friends and family members travel; study abroad, go on mission trips, etcetera. When they return home I am in awe of their stories and the adventures they encountered. I want that. I want to be able to experience those new things. Meet new people, see amazing feats of architecture completed years and years ago and create my own memories along the way. I want to be able to leave a mark of my own on different parts of this world.
It may take several years to reach my dream of traveling the world and maybe I won’t ever reach it, but I can simply start by experiencing what is around me close to home. Start by getting lost for a few hours exploring a new, working my way up to different states, and eventually countries. No matter how long it takes for me to accomplish all aspects of this goal of mine, I will know that there will always be the fire of adventure and the passion of traveling and experiencing the world in my heart.
I have gotten quite a great start on my goal and have visited multiple states in the US and have had the incredible opportunity of going across seas this past fall. On all of these trips I have not only left my mark and experienced many amazing new things, but I have learned so many life lessons along the way. Here are some of them:
1. The best places to eat aren't always where all the people are. When a lot of people travel they tend to search online and find the "most popular" places to eat. Why not walk around and take in the city and stop in at a cute little restaurant instead of going to the one across the street that is packed? You won't have to wait in line to be seated and most of the time these places have some pretty great food that sadly goes unnoticed.
2. Always bring extra socks. You never know when you will need a pair of socks. Maybe you wore flip flops because you went somewhere warm but what if you came upon a place where socks were a must? They are small and easy to shove in your purse so why not bring them? Believe it or not there are many different uses for socks than just for your feet!
3. Never trust Google. Believe it or not bit Google is not always right! Google doesn't always know the best way to get places or where the best place to eat or shop at is. The best way to experience a new place is to ask the people who live there. It would be so much cooler to meet someone new and ask them where the best place around is to eat, shop, or experience.
4. Don’t be afraid to watch a city full of people doing their normal day. One of the best and creepiest things to do while traveling is to "people watch." Just find a cute bench in a nice part of the city and watch what people do. Relate it to yourself in your city. Find the differences. It is surprisingly very amusing.
5. Don’t forget to thank sales associates! When shopping in different cities you aren't exactly sure how the proper etiquettes differ from your own. To be on the safe side you should always say please and thank you. It is a simple thing that goes a long way. People who work in retail and at places where they are serving the people have hard jobs and deal with rude and annoying people all day long. A simple thank you can change their whole mood and actually brighten their whole day.
6. The best people you will ever meet do not have perfect hair. Seriously, the best people you will ever meet aren't the ones who are perfectly done with perfect hair. Sometimes those who look a bit different have the best stories and advice.
7. Stare at a hot boy while they are still staring at you. Don't get offended when someone good looking stares at you. Sooner or later they won't be staring or they will come over to you and ask for your number or maybe even take you out. Don't let those chances slide by!
8. Tip Well. Tipping well is a very easy way to make someone's day. Servers do have a hard job and part of their pay comes from what you tip them. (Depemding on where you travel.) Give them what they deserve. The smiles that you receive when you tip well makes it all worth it. When I went to Ireland, each time I tipped at a restaurant the look on the servers face was priceless and I could tell that I made their day. I later found out that people don't usually tip there, but I didn't care because of how happy that server was to receive it.
9. Always tell people where you are from. If someone asks you where you are from: don't get scared and feel like you shouldn't tell them. It is already obvious that you aren't from the place you are visiting. Simply tell them where you are from and most of the time they have something that they relate to and it sparks up a conversation.
10. Don't wear tennis shoes in a fun city because you never know what will happen. Just because tennis shoes are super comfy doesn't mean that you have to wear them. There are so many occasions where tennis shoes aren't acceptable, don't wear them because you never know what opportunities there will be in a new city. What if a cute boy asks you to go get a drink, or go to a nice dinner with him? You wouldn't want to wear tennis shoes to do that. What if you found a beach... tennis shoes would suck to be wearing and would get wet or fill up with sand!
11. The outfit you're wearing dictates your memory of the city. Pick your outfits wisely! Don't just go with something because it is cute or because it is comfy. Find something that is both. Find something that you want to be able to look back on in pictures and know that you looked good. Surprisingly, many of the things that I remember from places I visited were the outfits in which I wore. Also, when you wear those clothes again it is almost like the memories are embedded into them.
12. If you find someone you travel well with never let them go. Just because someone is your best friend does not mean that they make the best travel buddy. It is surprisingly hard to find that person who has similar interests and can agree on where to eat, what to see, and how to experience the new city. For me, I love to experience the life of the city. I want to walk around and see new attractions, experience the night life, and embark on new challenges. I don't want to spend much time in the hotel room at all. Some people are much different. Finding that person that is a good fit for you and enjoy it.
13. Learning something from every place you travel to is 100x more valuable than a college education. There are things in college that you are simply not able to experience. There is more to life than what is in a textbook. Hands on experiences and with your own eyes is way more effective than reading the lines and doing problems out of a book. You will remember the feeling that you got when you looked around a new city for the first time, not what was on page 55 of your textbook sophomore year.
14. Take lots of pictures but don't forget to soak in the moment. It is great to take pictures to capture amazing moments and memories, but don't forget to actually experience your trip. View things with your own eyes instead of through a lens. Your memory will be embedded in you, pictures will just be mounted on the wall or placed in a book.
15. Don’t only pay attention to the most popular attractions. Sometimes the best things in a city are those that you are able to connect with. A cute little coffee shop with a nice view of the city leaves a much bigger mark on your heart than that huge monument that you wait for hours to get into. Most of the time you end up remembering how much you waited instead of remembering how the real thing was itself. When I went to Ireland it wasn't the huge castles that I found to be special. It was the cute cobblestone paths that my feet walked for miles on.
