I've always been somewhat of a homebody, never really liked to leave my house and when I did, it wouldn't be for too long. It's just where I was most comfortable. Then I got to high school and I got sucked into this boring daily routine that consisted of the same people, the same places, the same things. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. So I chose to go to a college in another state. Unfortunately, this still doesn't feel like enough.
I want go to countries I've only read about in books. I want to taste food I've only followed recipes of. I want to meet people I've never met. I want to walk streets I've only ever seen pictures of. I want to do things I've only heard other people do. I want to learn languages I could never learn in a classroom. I want to hear music I've never heard on the radio. I want to take pictures of things I've never seen. I want to gain a sense of perspective I've never had before.
Now when I say I want to travel, I don't mean hopping on a plane to Disney World or getting on a train to New York City. I mean driving down the west coast, hiking in the Grand Canyon, strutting down Grafton Street in Dublin, walking the interior of the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris, seeing the carnival festival in Brazil up close, walking the suspension bridge in the Taman Negara rain forest in Malaysia, venturing into the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin, China.
I don't want tour guides and guide books, I want maps. I don't want fancy hotel rooms, I want tents and old, dumpy cottages. I don't want to be your typical tourist. I want to get lost in a town I've never been before. I want to have to ask people for directions and not rely on a GPS system on my phone to lead me to the closest restaurant. I want to learn the ways of life from the country's native people. I want to hear their stories. I want to spend time in places that make me wish I lived like them. I want to go to places where I'm forced to realize that my problems aren't problems at all. I want to meet people and make plans for coffee at a corner cafe in a few hours. I want to embrace each culture as though I've lived there all my life.
I want to travel and I want to share my experiences with as many people as I can. I don't want to be stuck in one place for the rest of my life with the same people I grew up with, seeing the same things I've always seen. I want to go somewhere where no one knows my name. I want to start over, with new people, new sights, new things. I wish traveling wasn't so expensive because let me tell you, if traveling was free, you'd never see me again.
