hello there,
Travel. The type of travel I'm going to talk about isn't the five star, all inclusive, one week holidays we take with our families. I'm talking about travelling travel. The live out of a back pack, different hostel every few days, new country every week, see the world kind of travel.
There are 7 continents, 5 oceans, 196 countries, 2,469,501 cities, over 600,000 towns, and 7,125,000,000 people in the world. You are one of those seven billion people living in one of those three million towns or cities in one of those 196 countries on one of those seven continents.
If that's not reason enough to persuade you to travel, then perhaps these reasons will;
1.) You might actually like it
I never thought I would like to travel. I was a homebody. For the first two decades of my life I hardly left my house for more than a night or two at a time. I cried in the Vancouver International Airport the day I left for Australia because I didn't want to go. I left my family, my home, my life, for three months that day and once I left, I never looked back once. I fell in love with travel, it consumed me. I've craved it ever since. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my entire life.
2.) You'll change
Travelling will show you things that you didn't even know you cared about. Like I said, I didn't even know I liked travelling until I left. You'll learn things about yourself you didn't know before. When you put yourself in a foreign situation it forces you to change your perspective and expand your understanding of people and the world. That changes you. Maybe you'll want to open up a cafe in France, learn the language, embrace the culture, but you'll never know unless you go there. Maybe you want to be a sheep farmer in New Zealand but you won't know that unless you travel the land.
3.) Pictures say a thousand words but being there will leave you breathless
You won't appreciate the Eiffel Tower until you're standing under it.
You can't fathom the magnitude of the Giant's Causeway until you're on top of it.
You won't truly know the whole spectrum of colours that paint the houses stacked on the hill side of the Chilean coast until you walk through their streets.
You can't even begin to understand the clarity and warmth of the water that lines the Whitsunday's until you swim with the rays.
You won't grasp how big the mountain walls are that line Milford Sound until you are right at the foot of them.
You won't see that between the villages in Santorini are miles of desert land until you're flying down them on a quad.
You'll never comprehend how impossibly beautiful the Irimahuwhero Viewpoint is until you're standing in its presence (But you'll now understand the frustration it is trying to pronounce Irimahuwhero)
4.) You'll never have enough money
That doesn't sound like a good reason to go travelling. What I mean it, you'll always find an excuse not to go. And the most common excuse people give is that it's expensive. True. It can be extremely costly. But there are lots of things we spend money on that we can't really afford. Somehow we find a way to make it work. Let the same apply for travelling. You'll never think you have enough money to go. So go. Don't make excuses.
5.) It's humbling like you never imagined
You'll never feel as helpless as you do standing in a busy train station late at night all by yourself, completely lost. This is a good thing you ask? Yes. It's a brilliant thing. There's nothing more terrifying than being lost, confused and alone in a foreign country that probably doesn't speak your language. It makes you grateful and it challenges your confidence and comfort zone. As terrifying as that is, it's liberating at the same time. You learn to appreciate the mundane things of everyday life we take for granted.
6.) You'll meet people you wouldn't have otherwise met
Do you know Michael that sells bracelets on the black beach in Santorini, Greece? No? If it's because you've never been then how are you ever going to meet him? Of course I don't expect you to go to Greece to meet him (if you do though, send him my greetings), but meeting people on your travels is one of the best parts of travelling. When I was backpacking through the East Coast of Australia we spent a weekend camping with some fellow backpackers on Fraser Island. One of these backpackers was a guy from England. Fast forward two years and I'm walking over the Millennium Bridge in London, England and who should be standing on the other side of the bridge but the same guy we camped with in Australia two years prior. 20 million people live in London and we ran into the one person we knew.
And, side note, I'm a firm believer that the majority of the learning you do comes from the interactions you have with others.
Obviously my experiences were unique to my travels and if you go travelling your experience will probably sound nothing like mine. But that's the beautiful thing about travel. You own your experiences and they're irreplaceable. They're something no one can ever take from you and you have them forever. These experiences aren't something you buy and they become a part of who you are.
7.) It's a break you didn't know you needed
This type of travel is exhausting and rarely relaxing. But it's a better break than a holiday will ever give you. It's like entering a whole new world and you can explore it without reservations. It's refreshing, and new and exciting. You'll come back with a renewed sense of awe and appreciation.
8.) IT'S JUST FREAKING AWESOME
Travel is what you make it. It can be slow paced and filled with aimless wandering. It can be fast paced and packed with adrenaline infused adventure. It can be about culture and food or landscapes and discovery, or both. Every day is a new day with new places and new people. You can sit at a coffee shop in Florence, Italy and read a book or you can take the Shotover Jet down the river in Queenstown, New Zealand and boat down the rapids at lightning speed through the canyon. Your trip. Your plans. Your adventure. Your memories. There are no restraints of itineraries or confinements of resorts. Travelling is freeing.
9.) Why not?
Honestly. Why not just go?
It won't matter how disastrous your trip is, you will never regret going. Sometimes the worst moments end up being the best memories. You won't come back thinking about the time you took off work, or the money it cost you, all you'll think about is how grateful you are for the opportunity. Instead of looking back on your life and saying "I wish I had gone", look back and say "I'm glad I went".
