Few words in the world are more applicable to me and those like me than wanderlust. Literally meaning the desire to travel, wanderlust is a word that is used in virtually every travel blog and travel-themed inspirational poster and travel-themed tattoo (yes, these do exist). Many people ask me why I love travelling so much. When you are a wanderluster, this is something that is nearly impossible to explain succinctly and generally ends up being described through a series of anecdotes from my traveling career. Unfortunately, there are many people that simply can’t understand why this is so important to me. This is the closest that I can come to putting it into words.
Throughout my life, I have been ridiculed and mocked about my endless need to explore the world. Family members have told me that I am naive and need to live in the real world. Friends have judged me about the amount of money that I spend and my now ex-husband had limited interest in keeping up with my pace. My travel addiction has cost me a lot. It has cost me a ton of money, friendships and in some ways, my marriage.
But, it has literally brought a whole new world to me. I grew up in a small town in America’s rust-belt. As far as I can remember, there were no Latino kids, a handful of African-American students and zero Asians in my high school. We had 1 German foreign exchange student per year (looking back, I feel sooooo sorry for them!) and that is about as multicultural as it got. Luckily, my mom and dad both had a passion for travelling, especially my dad. Although he was slightly obsessed with Germany, he slowly expanded his interests and began traveling throughout Europe and even made it to Asia and New Zealand (albeit, it was to visit me.) My mom took me on my first trip to Europe when I was 15 and then again when I was 16. I went again when I was 18 and then studied in Austria when I was 20. Since then, I have bounced around the world like a ping pong ball and have no desire to settle down.
So why do I do it? This is something that is hard to explain. Unless you are someone like me, few people realize the burning desire to explore. While many people have a dream to have a home and a family, I have a dream to visit every country on the planet. People want babies, I want passport stamps. I read one article on CNN or Facebook and I suddenly have a new spot on my wishlist. It is an expensive addiction and I would be at a completely different spot in my life if I didn’t have it. I could own a house and a fancy car. I could have close friendships with people I have known forever.
So why??
- Because I can. – I am one of the few women in history that was lucky enough to be born at the right place at the right time. While patriarchy still reigns throughout the world and violence against women is still common place, I also come from a culture where it is socially-acceptable for women to travel alone. On top of this, I have a “strong” passport that enables me to do so. No matter how passionate you are about traveling, if you hold the wrong passport, your options are very limited. I was also lucky enough to have a mom who paid for my university and I am forever grateful for this. Without student loans, I was free to explore the world and only needed to worry about paying for my living expenses – not paying off thousands of dollars of debt.
- Because travel has, and continues to, change me in indescribable ways. Like many other life-defining experiences, travel has changed me in ways that I had never imagined. I honestly have no idea what type of person I would be if it wasn’t for the experiences that I have had while traveling. Would I love history and geography as much as I do? Would the Mongols and Silk Road excites me to the point that my friends make fun of me? Would I know that I am absolutely horrific with foreing languages? Would I know that men around the world are also the same in bed and do the same annoying shit while in relationships? (Please don’t let any of my family or co-workers read this bit – if you did, sorry!). The more countries I visit, the more my view of the world changes. Like going down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, the more places that I see, the more and more I want to learn. My experiences gallivanting around the world are what made me go back to school for my master’s in geopolitics. The desire to travel and the need for mobility and freedom has dictated nearly every major decision of my life. If I didn’t have this burning passion inside me, where would I be? More importantly, who would I be? Would I still be that prejudiced teenager who only listened to what people were telling me? Would I have grown into the woman that I am now without travel being such a strong influence in my life?
- Because travel breaks down racism and ignorance. Growing up in a narrow-minded town full of narrow-minded people, I rattled off the same racist garbage that they did. That all began to change as I started to see the world. I began to realize that people are all the same. People want to feel safe and secure and they want the chance to be happy. This is all anyone wants. They want to know that their kids are safe, that they have enough to eat and a roof over their heads. Once you begin to realize this, it makes it much, much more difficult to hate other cultures or ethnicities.
I strongly believe that travel has the power to change the world one person at a time. Walls are broken down as dialogue is opened. Unexpected allies save the day and adversaries become your closest friends. I hope that in the future, borders continue to open and more and more people can be as lucky as I have been. We need this not only individually as people but also as humanity as a whole.
