Some people my age have never been more than a few hours past their hometown. Some have travelled to a few nearby states, but we all know a few people who seem to have gone everywhere in the world. They’ve been to almost every state. They go to Hawaii or the Bahamas every year. They’ve been to Europe, India, or Asia. And most would never admit to the envy they bear regarding those few who are well travelled. Well, I’m here to tell you one simple thing. Just do it. Travel to at least one place you have always wanted to go when you’re a young adult. It’s great if you get to it at any age, but I think young adulthood is a prime time to go, and very beneficial.

My senior year of high school I suddenly got to travel about three times as much as I ever had. My mom took me to tour the colleges I had been accepted to, and we toured about nine of them. We went to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. We spent time in places I had never been to, and I fell in love with several of them. It was exhausting of course, because we did the touring in the space of about two weeks, but it was amazing. Now, none of those places are particularly far, although I will say I have a soft spot for Oregon. But then I just kept traveling that year. Come early spring, I got to fly over the ocean for the very first time to Kauai. And again, I fell in love with it. Kauai is probably the least touristy island, and the local people seemed quite happy and kind. The weather was perfect, the ocean was calm and warm. I had never spent time in a genuinely warm natural body of water, so of course I loved it.

Then again, that summer, I travelled to France and Italy for eighteen days with people around my age that I had yet to meet in person. The trip wasn’t the cheapest, but I paid for a large chunk of it with my own money that I had saved up from working. While in France and Italy, I learned what it really meant to be away from friends and family. And I saw true beauty in both countries. I now feel that I could almost call France another home. We each stayed with our own French family while in Nice, challenging our language capabilities, and immersing ourselves in their culture. Everything about France was beautiful to me, and Paris now has a piece of me. Then once more, just a few months ago, I went on a mission trip to San Francisco. The people there were so different from anyone I had ever met, and despite how hot it was there (I am not a fan of heat) I really enjoyed the whole experience. Working with the homeless was especially eye opening.

Now I didn’t write this to make anyone envious. But what I got from all of this traveling was something I couldn’t get from staying in my gorgeous state forever. I have wanderlust, and wander I must do. Meeting so many different types of people in such a short amount of time forces you to face other opinions and traditions. You learn how unique people are, and you are guaranteed to surprise yourself with what you learn about you. You find yourself agreeing with traditions and ideas that you may not have even known about before, or didn’t know

enough about. You explore a state, a city, a country. But you also explore yourself, more in depth than you ever knew you could. You challenge your own beliefs and ideas and you learn how to converse with all sorts of people, which is an underestimated valued skill. So, if you want to travel, you should travel. I have every intention of continuing to do so for the rest of my life. If it’s expensive, fundraise, work, make it happen. There are ways around most expenses, and the value of travel is worth its weight in gold. No price tag.