Why I Travel

This past year has given me so many opportunities to travel. I’m incredibly blessed to have studied abroad in both Barcelona and Bali, traveled around Europe, and participated in two service trips to the Dominican Republic and even after all the visits to San Francisco International Airport, I still find myself wanting to travel more and more with each trip. What can I say…I’ve fallen in love with the world and traveling has been my way of expressing my love.

And honestly, I can go on & on about how much I love traveling and the reasons why I believe everyone should have the opportunity to see the world but here’s a few to get started:

With traveling you will….

Expand Your Horizons

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

In Culture —

​Despite having been raised in the Bay Area, one of the most diverse places in the United States, this diverse hotpot only scratches the surface of all the cultures that are out there. Traveling allows us to see the world in a larger point of view. It connects us to different cultures while expanding our awareness and introducing us to the diversity of the world. It makes you realize that you are apart of something so much bigger than yourself and by opening your mind and heart to new cultures you’ll come to realize the growing issue of poverty in developing countries, the diverse make up of the human population, and the beauty that transcends across the globe.

In Education —

Traveling will give you meaningful lessons that you can never possibly learn from sitting in a classroom. Whether it’s learning a new language, seeing all the historical buildings and places in your history books come to life, or taking a dance workshop in a foreign country, traveling presents ways for us to further our knowledge and enhance our education

Within Yourself —

Traveling will allow you to step out of your comfort zone. Think about it. Most people spend their entire lives in one place — with the same friends, same community, and same 9–5 job. With traveling, you will find the courage to explore new parts of the world, despite how unknown and foreign they may be. You might even find yourself skydiving through the Switz Alps, serving in a developing country, or even snorkeling in the coral reefs of Bali despite not knowing how to swim (scary but I did it!). Traveling will not only put you out of your comfort zone, but it will challenge you in ways you never thought possible.

Form and Strengthen Relationships

Making friendships abroad can make this big world seem a little smaller and it will make you feel so much more connected, wherever you go. You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to form relationships with people while traveling. Whether it’s making friends with random strangers, sharing wild study abroad adventures with your roomie, or creating an everlasting bond with the people you serve & serve with, traveling allows you to enrich your life through human connections.

On the flip-side, traveling will allow you to develop a stronger appreciation for the people you left behind. Being away for any period of time, you’ll come to realize how much you take the people you love for granted — family, close friends, a significant other, everyone that makes home, well, home. And in the end you’ll appreciate these individuals so much more.

Escape

Sometimes you just need an escape. These past two years have been the most challenging years of my life and I continued to feel emptier and emptier with every trying incident but what saved me from those dark times were all the opportunities I had to travel. I was able to detox from traumatic events and from toxic people in my life, giving me the time and space needed to reflect. I’m not saying that you should use traveling as a means to runaway but what I am saying is that sometimes you need to detach yourself from your life back home to refocus and put things into perspective.

Find Yourself

Traveling changes a person, in a way that can only be understood by those who have been abroad. Traveling has allowed me to find myself. When I began my study abroad program in Barcelona I was a lost soul searching for something missing in my life. In the end what I found was a better understanding of who I was and with every trip that was to follow I found myself putting the pieces of my soul together.

As cliche as it sounds, traveling has allowed me to become the best possible version of myself. I learn the most when I’m abroad. I grow the most when I’m abroad. I love myself the most and I am the best possible version of myself — Abroad.

And if you are still not convinced to pack your bags and buy the first plane ticket outta here right now then think about it this way…There are 7 continents, 196 countries, and roughly 7.347 billion people in the world. You owe it to yourself to see, experience, and fall in love with all that this world has to offer.

I will continue to travel and see the world and I genuinely hope you do the same.