Both of my parents have traveled and seen many different places throughout their lives, so the desire to travel has always been in my blood. When I was younger, I remember hearing about their nine-month-long backpacking trips through Asia and South America, and I have always wanted to have those same adventures and experiences. Because of my parents’ love for traveling, they have exposed my younger brother and me to many parts of the world and inspired me to want to see as much of the world as possible.
To most people, going on vacation means staying in a big hotel on a beautiful beach, and don’t get me wrong, that is a very nice luxury. However, traveling for my family entails something entirely different. We always try to immerse ourselves in the new culture or environment that we are experiencing, visit as many places as possible, and stay in locally-run places.
From my own experience, traveling to places that are drastically different from what you are used to can allow you to open up your perspective and see your own life and home in a different light. Many people can get caught up in the small problems that they face and get stuck in the mindset of focusing on just their immediate surroundings. I sometimes catch myself doing this too, but being able to understand that there is such a vast and different world outside of my own always helps me to get out of my head and realize that so many aspects of my life are trivial. My hometown is often referred to as “the bubble” due to the fact that many people are so comfortable with being confined to small, familiar, affluent areas, and never take the opportunity to branch out and gain new experiences.
This summer I took my passion for traveling into my own hands and went to Europe with my best friends for a month and a half. Even though I spent the majority of my money that I had made that year, every Euro was worth it. We lived on a small budget and couldn’t afford any luxuries but, in my opinion, that made the trip even better. We found all of the cheap and local spots to go to and explore. This trip taught me many life lessons including, how to find my way around, communicate with people who don’t speak the same language as me, take care of myself in unfamiliar environments, budget my money, and most importantly how to do laundry with a washing machine that doesn’t have a single word of English on it. Traveling to new places allows you to learn so much about other cultures, people and places, and so much about yourself.
I can’t wait to travel and see more of the world in the future, and I hope that my experiences with traveling can open up your eyes and encourage you to go out and see, experience, and explore the huge and diverse world that we live in.
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