Travel.
It is quite possibly one of my biggest passions in life. It is cliche to put that in a dating profile, since apparently everyone’s passion is travel but it is rare that I meet someone who has the same sort of drive for it. I’ve met countless people who say they love to travel, but their idea of traveling is a vacation every five years, to some souped up, all inclusive resort. Not that there is anything wrong with that, every once in a while I do like to treat myself to those. However, if I don’t leave the country at least once a year, I start itching.
I rarely will ever pass up a trip to somewhere new, to experience another culture, another city, another location. I don’t let my fear of flying stop me. There is something about it that makes me look my fears directly in the eyes and say FUCK YOU I’m going anyway. The cold sweats I get from landing are totally worth the high of being somewhere else, somewhere I don’t speak the language, somewhere I’ve never been to before.
I would never in a million years give up the feeling I had when I stepped off Paris’ metro, rounded the corner and saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. That HOLY SHIT I’m really here moment that had me bouncing up and down with excitement, practically in tears.
Or that feeling when I was standing on the Charles Bridge in Prague, looking over the city all sparkling in the light. Feeling the magic that the city held, so thick I could cut it with a knife and realizing that you could indeed fall in love with a city.
That feeling sitting on a roof in Granada with ten of my new friends laughing and drinking wine. How it felt to say goodbye to someone I’d only met three days before but had instantly bonded with. Seeing the sunrise (and sunset) in ten different countries.
I miss travel. Every day I’m not participating in it, I long for it.. That’s not to say that I’m not enjoying where I’m at currently, that I’m not living my life to the fullest. Because I am. That is one thing travel has taught me: how to live life to the fullest. Not everything is going to last forever. You may leave the city you’re in sooner than you planned, your friends may not always be in the same place you are.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t long for the day where I can hop on a plane and travel to my next adventure.
The other night I was sitting in a book club meeting with some very awesome people and Chelsea read part of the book we were reading out to us:
So, we mustn’t forget any of this, absolutely not. We have to live with the certainty that we’ll get old and that it won’t look nice 0r be good or feel happy. And tell ourselves that it’s now that matters: to build something, now, at any price, using all our strength. Always remember that there’s a retirement home waiting somewhere and so we have to surpass ourselves every day, make every day undying. Climb our own personal Everest and do it in such a way that every step is a little bit of eternity. –Muriel Barbery The Elegance of the Hedgehog
It was at that moment where something clicked in my brain, something that asked me what was holding me back, exactly, from going to New Orleans? Seeing Simon and Garfunkel, live and together, is on my bucket list. When will this opportunity arise again? Maybe never. So I knew at that moment that I was going to New Orleans, no doubts about it, no more hesitations. So I booked my plane ticket.
Then today I got the wonderful news that my little brother, the one person who most understands my desire to travel, to move, to be on the go constantly, was accepted into the Peace Corps. It has taken him months of stress, months of anticipation to get this news. Every day I call my parents and ask them if he’s heard yet, myself dying to know where he will end up.
He has traveled and lived abroad for most of his adult life. He has lived in New Zealand, Alaska, Germany and has traveled everywhere. He has the most interesting adventures (like the time he got pass out drunk off of bootleg vodka in a small town in Georgia–the country–with an old man who he hitchhiked with.) and manages to befriend everyone, despite his size.
He has been looking forward to the peace corps for as long as I can remember. In the fall he was told he’d most likely be going to Armenia and he was very excited to go. Those kinds of places, with stories of genocide and war interest him more than the major sights like Paris or London. After months of waiting he started getting depressed that he wasn’t going to be able to go and started looking for other things to do, other means of seeing the world. He applied to work at national forests, looked into teaching english abroad. Anything to keep him moving.
Then three days ago he got a call asking him how he felt about a different location. How good of a swimmer he was. The family instantly started taking guesses at where they were placing him, what island he was going to.
Today he got the letter.
He is going to be in Fiji, one of the most beautiful places on earth, for the next 26 months, starting in May.
He hands in his resignation today as well, in order to start a cross country road trip that will lead him through Colorado, on his way to the Grand Canyon and then onwards. Until he reaches that beautiful little island in the Pacific.
I am so excited, and so proud of him.
And I cannot wait to go visit him.
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WOW! That’s so great for him! I have two friends who just left for Africa on Peace Corps assignments, and I am so proud of them. It takes a big heart, dedication and strength to handle 26 months away from home, and it sounds like your brother is the right person for the job. Congrats!
YAY! That is so wonderful. He is so brave and I can’t WAIT to hear about his experience!
That is awesome! What an exciting life to lead.
That’s SO cool. My grandmother joined the Peace Corps in her 60s and also went to Fiji for about 2 years! She was a nurse her whole life, including during World War II where she served in Europe. While in Fiji, she taught nursing and biology classes to people there and loved every minute of it. I still have boxes at my mum’s house full of all the wonderful things she sent me when she was there and will keep them forever!
Best of luck to your brother!
This post makes me want to hop on a plane right NOW. To anywhere.
Congratulations to your brother; he must be so excited!
I think you made the right choice with New Orleans. There’s always Vegas 2011.
Hey! I’m working on trying to get to know some of the other Colorado 20-something bloggers. So, hi! I’m Ashley, and I live in Greeley.
Your blog is fantastic–the little bit of it that I’ve seen. I absolutely relate to wanting to travel… Your story about backpacking across Europe and drinking wine on a rooftops with new friends is really beautiful.
Nice to meet(ish) you.
that is so awesome your brother is going to be fiji, can i come with you? please?
That is amazing. Fiji must be beautiful. It certainly looks it from that picture.
I understand about the traveling. I have not been on a trip abroad in a year and I miss it so freaking much.
No effing way. Your brother is my hero. And I love S&G–that was my trip pick!
Hiya. I can totally relate, having lived abroad a few times and now in my old age
travel wherever i can get my hands on and at a minimum of once/year to somewhere in Asia or South America. Did you realize there is an ENTIRE travel blogger community out there, that actually has events just dedicated to travel blogging (TBEX…travel blogger exchange)? You can get lots of inspiration from these guys, many of whom travel full time (ie have been on the road for years), and with an well-established blog (like yours…) and some help from AdSense, get paid for it. I think TBEX is in NY this year, but you should try to go. My (real-life) friend Matt has been on the road since 2006 and his travel blog has recently exploded, bringing him in over $3K/month, meaning he just travels full time and keeps up the site (www.nomadicmatt.com) – it’s so successful he was featured in the New York Times travel section a couple of months ago. He just published an ebook about making money with your blog you could check out if feeling inspired. Between he and Christine from http://www.almostfearless.com, you should find lots of inspiration should you decide to abandon Colorado for the open road.. it’s much cheaper living abroad than in the US if you travel slow! If you don’t have a job yet, no mortgage, now’s the time… 
OH and one more suggestion… http://www.nomadderwhere.com is another one to check out, she just got back from living in Nakavika, Fiji for a few months with the villagers.. your brother might be interested in reading about her experiences. Congrats to him!!
How awesome! He’ll have an amazing time.
WOW! That’s absolutely amazing for your brother, and how fun that you will get to visit him! (No, seriously, I’m kinda jealous. But super excited for the both of you because, honestly? How freaking awesome is that?!)
Like you, I itch to travel. It’s in my blood after spending a summer in Italy, and while I haven’t gone overseas in a while, I’m all about exploring new places. And experiencing new things.
Congrats to him! Amazing.
I too have an insatiable need to travel. When I realized that I was going to be a single parent, I got rid of my truck, put everything in storage, and hit the road. My motto was “have baby, still travel.” We were in Europe for a year, Montreal for another year, and various cities around the globe in between time. Friends and family thought I was bloody nuts. But I felt so empowered being able to do it.
I returned back to the States a few years ago to put my daughter in kindergarten. She’ll be 8 this year. She recently starting asking me, “Can we move near the beach? Pleeeeease Mommy?”
“What about all of your friends?” I ask. “Won’t you miss them?”
“I’m not worried about it. I’ll make new one’s.”
She’s a nomad in the making!
So my point is, there are many of us out there. Enjoy who you are.