Wanderlust: The term is defined as the “strong urge to travel to understand one’s very existence.”

If you're over the age of 20, (or even 18), you've probably felt it before. Maybe you're feeling it right now, or have felt it your entire life. If you’re anything like me, you grew up in a town with less than 5,000 people and the closest place for recreation was 20 minutes away. On the weekends, before you had a car, you had to practically beg your parents to drive you to the nearest movie theater. If they said no, boredom was your next option. You knew every face you saw walking down the street or in the car next to you. You most likely even knew whose car it was, even if they weren’t in it. For some, this is why people never choose to leave where they grew up. They prefer the comfort, the stability of never having to venture out into the unknown. But for me, I was never meant to stay in one place for too long. The unknown was meant for us humans to explore.

So why have I been living in the same town for most of my life? I mean, I’ve been to three colleges, but they were all within an hour of my hometown. Why are we all so bound to the “rules” of society? Why do we tell ourselves that settling down where we grew up with three kids and a picket fence is the "American Dream"? Why can't the American Dream mean hopping in a car with the person you love (or by yourself) and living in crappy motels for a year — living, seeing, experiencing. This world has so much to offer. I want to go scuba diving in Australia, mountain climbing in the Adirondacks and to stand at the top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out at the most beautiful city in the world. So why haven't I done all of this? Why should fear hold me, or any of you back. Fear is at the root of why people stay comfortable. True wanderlust is wanting to drop everything in your life right now, whether it be a job, school or a relationship, and just go. Pack a bag and go. Go see what the great Universe has provided us with that we take for granted everyday. Being a 20-something has given us all the privilege to be free. Free to make mistakes, free to do what we want and free to make choices for ourselves. These freedoms allow us to satisfy that longing, that wanderlust to go travel and make memories to tell our grandchildren about someday.

So right now, I'm encouraging anyone out there who has a hunger for adventure to satisfy that craving. Study abroad, take that internship overseas. Plan a trip just for the heck of it, deep in the classy streets of London or the wide open savannas of Africa. Find yourself in crowds full of strangers who speak a different language. Walk in places that your heroes have walked on. Sleep on mattresses that make you miss your bed at home so much you would give your entire left arm to have it back. After all, these experiences are the ones who help you grow as a person, and test your limits in immeasurable ways. So right now, just go. Don't think, go. Leave your small town of less that 5,000 people. Go take that feeling of wanderlust and make something out of it, while coming back stronger than ever with the world in your hands.