“Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.”
-Judith Thurman

I like dreams. A lot, actually. When I wake up in the middle of one, I get frustrated because I want to know how it was supposed to end. I try going back to sleep to finish the story, but I’m never able to. Sometimes I find that it's a good thing that I can't. Why would I want to experience the same thing again? Other times, it gets frustrating. Why wouldn't I want to know what the rest of the experience held in store for me?

If I could close my eyes and go back to sleep, though, I'd want to go everywhere that I haven't been before in my dreams. I'd want to close my eyes to the demands of the real world and open my mind to the possibilities that await me outside of my hometown.

If money didn’t matter, school wasn’t a priority and the word "responsibility" wasn’t in my vocabulary, the last place I would be is home. Don’t get me wrong: I love my family and the town where I live, but there is something so rewarding about getting up and going somewhere else. I have been on 12-hour car rides since long before I even knew what an hour was. I haven’t had a free day in my summer for as long as I can remember; my friends can attest to that.

If I was given an opportunity to go or do anything with no academic, professional or financial restrictions, I would pick up my camera, my laptop and my passport. I would book a flight, and head to Europe. I would write about my experiences, photograph the locals, taste the cuisine and broaden my horizons. I would take each and every picture I capture and write a story about it, whether real or fictional. France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and anywhere else my feet and heart could carry me, I’d capture through my lens. My hope would be to form bonds so strong with the people whom I encounter that I would do anything to go back.

I wish that I could pack my bags, grab my passport and hop on the next flight out of town. I wish that I could go on an adventure so grand that no amount of words or photos could even begin to describe it. I wish that I could spend each waking moment experiencing new things.

I went to Hong Kong back in April of this year. I'd been out of the country before, but only on cruises, so this was the first international trip I'd ever been on. Most people who know me find that to be absolutely shocking, seeing as I'm always on the go. Up until then, my longest flight had been to California.

When I stepped off of the plane in Hong Kong, I was taken aback by how different it was, even at first glance. The people drove on the opposite side of the road, the buildings were incredibly lit up and beautiful, the smells were unique and the overall atmosphere was unlike any other.

In the six days I was there, I tried new foods, saw new things, and took pictures of every little detail in order to document this memorable vacation. I fell in love with not only Hong Kong, but also with the idea of being in a country so incredibly different from my own. I wanted to take in everything I possibly could. I wanted to do ten times the amount of things we had time to do.

The person I was in Hong Kong is the person I aspire to always be: Someone who is ready and eager to go out and experience something new and unfamiliar. The way I felt when I was traveling abroad is indescribable, so much so that when asked to express the wonder that the trip was I can't get more words out than, “It was just amazing. I can't explain it but it was amazing.”

I simply want to go and do and see and be. That's what traveling is to me.

I love my home, I love my town and I love the people in it. But my true home is wherever I'm wearing comfy walking shoes, a camera around my neck and a smile on my face that screams adventure.

Judith Thurman expresses my feelings perfectly. I'm dying to go back to a place that I've never been to before. I'm more homesick for travel than I am for home. Travel has been a part of me since I was born. I was born with traveler’s blood in my veins and simply cannot stay put.