What I Mean When I Say I Want To Travel

A lot of people say they want to travel, I mean why wouldn’t you want to explore all the world has to offer? I know I do. But travel has different meaning to everyone and there is no right or wrong definition of it. Mine just might be a little different than yours.

I’ve never wanted a normal life; I’ve never thought of having a desk job or a 9-5 type of job. That isn’t the kind of commitment and lifestyle I want. I don’t want to work for the weekends and hate the rest of the five days of the week. Maybe in the future when I feel like slowing down and I find my niche, but not anytime soon.

When I say I want to travel, I don’t mean I want to hit up every tourist spot in the area and head to souvenir shops to buy a t-shirt proving I was there. I don’t want to only walk around main streets and eat at every popular restaurant I can find on Google. I don’t want to stay at big, nice resorts and explore with local tour guides. I don’t just want to go places to say I’ve been there.

When I say I want to travel, I mean I want to travel, not that I want be a tourist. I want to get lost in the country I’m in and not like a, “my GPS led me the wrong direction now I can’t figure out how to get back on track,” kind of lost. Like a wandering lost, a desire to get lost in the environment and soak in my surroundings. I want to find the little treasures exclusive to that area, and take in the local coffee shops and bookstores. I want to discover old landmarks in the mountains. I want to experience new things, as many of them as I can.

I want to pack a backpack and live out of it with only the essentials I need. I want to sleep in tents, hostels or in my car as I wander through different towns in different countries. I want to sleep in places that people have never heard of. I want to turn my dreams into reality. I want to experience what it’s like to live life simplistically without feeling tied down to society and suffocated by useless things.

I want to meet people who are different than me, but still connect with me. I want to learn their cultures and ways of life. I want to learn their history and backgrounds. I want to be submerged in different languages. I want to find life long friends on the other side of the world.

I want to be in constant awe of the earth and everything it has to offer. I want to see things I could never have possibly imagined and try things I’ve only dreamed of. I want my curiosity to grow greater and stronger than it already is. I want to take in every skyline and bask in the solitude of unfamiliar places.

When I return home I don’t want to feel whole. I want to feel like I left pieces of myself through out the world. I want to look beyond what’s right in front of me and understand the world we live in. I want to fulfill my wanderlust desire and even if, for some inconceivable reason, I hate a life of travel, I want to know that I can always come home.

But I will never be satisfied until I am out in the world, fulfilling this empty desire I have growing inside me and learning in the most natural settings.

When I say I want to travel, I’m saying I want to experience everything. Because experience is far more valuable than money will ever be.