If I’m honest my last trip was weird; I left someone I really cared about in the middle of things – with a lot of questions about us and the future. Part of me wanted things to really work out, he was one of the most incredible guys I have ever met and there’s still a lot of sadness that things didn’t pan out better. But part of me knows it probably never could; he would like to travel at some stage, maybe.
Maybe travel.
Maybe a few years ago I would have been a girl who could have been okay with that. But I think I’ve come to realise that travel is my biggest love, aside from my sisters. I’m sure one day my priorities will shift a little and I’ll want a white picket fence and a cute dog and maybe some little babies, but for now I’m saving myself for the world.
As I prepare for my flights into Singapore and onto Bangkok, I’m getting really excited. I came home, I met my nephew and I resolved things with this guy. Now I can leave with a clear mind and a clear heart. I can be really open to the world and all it has to offer.
It’s funny, because tonight is the first night my room has been fully set up. I have a little travel shrine, a ridiculously comfortable bed and I even spent $30 on a delicious candle – which seems to be an outrageous price for a candle!
So I guess part of me is torn, there’s some progress in staying on one place, in settling, in having a routine. But then there’s the rest of the world. The whole world.
I’ve been sitting here this evening, sipping on some delicious tea trying to accurately articulate why I love to travel so much. Obviously being on holiday is really great and everyone loves that side of thing, but that’s not it.
The other day I was called flippant by a friend. I think he was confused because I’d declared I was coming home for summer and only a few weeks later I’m off again. I don’t think I’m flippant, I think I’d prefer to describe myself as open. Open to life. Open to what I feel is best in any given moment.
And maybe that’s what I love most about travel, it forces me to be present. To be really in that moment of time.
In every day life at home it’s easy to get lost in your routine, set your alarm, eat your lunch, do your work, see your friends and rinse and repeat the next week. There’s a time and a place for that, but for me it’s not now.
The first time I was in Asia, I was a month into my trip and I realised I hadn’t worn shoes (just flipflops) or set an alarm in weeks. I owned that moment almost as if it were a badge. Because somehow I’d removed myself from the stuff you have to do and was instead only doing the stuff I wanted to do. Every Single Day.
Waking up and asking myself what I really wanted to do on a daily basis was one of the best gifts I’ve given myself –Tweet This
I was constantly being exposed to new things, meeting new people and being thrust out of my own comfort zone on a regular basis. But above all, I knew I was growing as a person. I was etching away at the layers I’d built around myself and digging deeper into me.
The other thing I love about travel is when you step off the plane, completely alone you get an opportunity: you can be the truest version of yourself. You can be nasty, nice, loud, quiet, crazy, bland – whatever you want and everyone you meet will take you at face value. No reputation, no social status, nothing – you’re stripped away to your truest version of yourself.
Today I bought the only thing I really need before I head off – a travel towel. Less than two weeks until I leave and I’m ready. I’m ready to meet some new people, to see some new places and to learn more about this world.
But more than anything I’m ready to dig deeper into myself and what I want from life.
So tell me, why do you travel?
