Life is filled with endless decisions. When we are young adults, it’s as if every day presents more choices to be made. We choose things that will affect the large majority of our life and pick what direction we will propel ourselves in. Many people consider picking a college or picking a major to be the biggest and hardest decisions, but the challenging one for me has been between traveling more or settling into one place.
Most of the time, travel seems to be the more attractive option. Many people consider young adulthood to be the best time to travel. Exploring different places throughout the country and around the world provides so many incredible opportunities. You can learn about other cultures, become more in touch with the world and maybe even find your future home. I often think about traveling for a semester on a study abroad trip or taking a personal vacation over breaks. Over one summer break, I did a volunteer trip in Thailand for four weeks. Over one of my winter breaks, I spent almost two weeks in Europe. Both of these trips were incredible and I definitely don’t regret going on them. I looked into studying abroad for a semester, but ultimately decided to do the Disney College Program instead. So I luckily got two big travel experiences and one huge adventure in the country by the time I graduate. Since I chose to go to school 3,000 miles away from home, you could also say the regular school year is a travel-like adventure of its own.
But there is also a lot of appeal to spending a lot of time in one place. By living consistently somewhere, you can really get to know that area. You could become a regular at one of your favorite spots. You can sign up for memberships to different places. Being around for longer periods of time also allows you to grow closer to the people in that area. If you work while you’re more stationary, you also have the opportunity to build a better professional relationship with the company of your choosing and you could potentially receive a promotion. If I had gone to school close to home, I could have kept my job at a movie theater and worked my way up to a manager position. Staying closer to home would have made staying in touch with my friends there way easier and I’d probably still be well-connected with most of them. One of my old work friends recently got married and I wondered if I would’ve been invited, had I stuck around.
I’m entering my last year of college and looking back, I don’t know which of my choices were better or worse. I can imagine traveling more and being happier, but I can also imagine sticking around and being happier. And now I am faced with more decisions for after college. Should I go to grad school? If I do, should I pick somewhere close to home or start a new adventure? I’ve also considered taking some time to just travel. The possibilities are endless and I don’t even know how to begin making the decision. If I have more adventures away from home, I’ll have incredible experiences that could help me to grow and learn. If I stay in one place long enough, I can build and develop stronger relationships that will last a lifetime. The right decision is different for everybody depending on their wants and needs, and I only hope I’ll be able to determine what’s right for me when the time comes.
