Lately I have been ill and feeling kind of in a rut. I think it’s been ongoing since I got back from Yellowstone. I’m not entirely sure why I feel like this but I think it might have something to do with the lack of travel.

For the past six weeks I’ve been dog sitting, house sitting, and not really doing anything productive or enjoyable. 

I feel empty inside. I’m going to college in a few weeks, and I should be happy, but I just keep thinking about how much debt I’ll be in and how I’ll have to wait 4 years to start traveling. (and by traveling I mean jet setting around the world and never coming home). 

Is this how it’s supposed to feel? Everyone in my life seems to think I should be bouncing off the walls in anticipation for the coming school year, but all I feel like doing is bashing my head on a table. 

It’s hard for me to talk about these feeling (other than to you guys), because my family always brushes things off. Nothing is of great importance to them except their own daily lives. Can’t a girl get some support around here!? I don’t really think that they do this to me intentionally. It’s just that they live in a different world than I do. Materialistic things are important to them, and that is totally fine but I would give up anything to be able to live out of a backpack for months at a time. The only thing I am asking for is a little acceptance and support of my dreams.

Anyways, I thought that since I feel so lost at the moment, I would write down a few reminders of why I love traveling, and why you should love it too:

1.) It opens up your eyes to the real world.

During senior year, lots of people would tell me to have fun in the real world, which I then  replied “THANK YOU, I WILL!!”. I would always say this because to them the real world is about getting a 9-5 job, paying bills, living the ordinary life. To me, living in the real world means traveling, exploring, and seeing every single inch that this globe has to offer. THAT is living in the real world, and when you accept that simple fact of life, so many other things start to make sense.

2.) You get to learn your ENTIRE life.

I cannot tell you guys how many times someone has said to me that they wish they could be a full time student.

It’s really not as hard as it may seem. You don’t have to travel for years to learn something new. A weekend trip to a historic sight, a week long trip to a new country, or a life time of travel can all teach you something, you just have to open up and be willing to receive this knowledge.

For real though, I’ve learned plenty of things in my own backyard.

3.) You get to be who you really are.

This pertains a little bit more towards long-term travel and/or solo travel.

I don’t have a lot of experience in the “finding who I really am department”, but I can say with certainty that the life I’m living right now is not who I am.

4.) You get to experience different cultures first hand. 

I might just be a sucker for culture, but I would go bananas if I could experience some of the things I read that other bloggers do. Okay, I might sound like a total nerd right now, but I would love to go to a country where I could wear a head wrap. It would be the most exhilarating thing to participate in a culture completely different than the U.S.

And for those of you that are confused, culture is the way people act, talk, and do things. To me,  culture is the way they celebrate holidays, the food they eat, and the things they do on a regular basis. Think about it, every single person lives a completely different life that you. Wouldn’t it be amazing to witness at least a few of those lives?

5.) You get to explore everyday.

Someone once said: Adventure is hardwired into your brain, and traveling helps you tap into that desire.

Adventure doesn’t just have to be exploring a jungle or white water rafting. You could have an adventure roaming the airport, or visiting a museum you’ve never been to. Adventure is what you make it. 

6.) You get to be the best storyteller EVER.

To the seasoned traveler, that epic fail of an adventure that landed you in a strange country and then you had to live with indigenous people for weeks, might not seem cool, but to the travel deprived soul like me, that story would be FRICKEN AWESOME!!! (That story is fake, but don’t you wish it was real?!)

So yeah, moral of the story, travel is awesome.

P.S. 

I’m going on a super awesome, secret trip soon! I can’t wait to share it with you guys, so make sure to subscribe via email for updates, follow my Instagram, and keep a look out for a new video on my YouTube channel soon! 

xoxo