What I Love About Travel

There are so many things to love about the experience of traveling. It's like no other experience in the world- it opens up your mind and changes your perspective. It's thrilling and fascinating and challenging- all at the same time. I could go on for awhile about all the things I love about traveling. But for now, here's just a few...

It Makes me Aware of Beauty

I think one of the reasons we become so fascinated with new places when we travel is simply because we are more aware of beauty. Whenever I travel to a new city (even if it's just one in the States that's fairly similar to mine) I always find something to love about it. Sometimes it's the architecture, or the nature, or the shops. I've noticed that when I'm seeing a new place for the first time, I always look for beauty. I look for something to love, and I like that travel makes it easy to do that.

Of course it's harder to find beauty in the environment we're used to because, well, we're used to it. We see all the ugliness like traffic and bad weather and construction. So it can be easy to focus on that. But I don't want to only be aware of the bad. I want to look at our downtown skyline like I'm seeing it for the first time, or drive down a new neighborhood to point out pretty houses just for the heck of it. I want to be aware of beauty. It's so present, if we only look for it. Traveling has made me more aware of that, and it's taught me to seek it even in the place I call home.

It Gets My Eyes off of Myself

Traveling always reminds me that I am, in fact, not the center of the universe. I mean, let's be honest: we Americans have a tendency to make life all about us and our plans for the future. But it's hard to hold up that belief when you enter a new culture that has its own life and customs and functioned perfectly fine without you. In fact, you're kind of the disturbance when you step into it. That's why I love learning to adapt to a new culture. I like even the challenging moments when I have to consider how I dress more carefully or think about how to translate myself. I love listening and observing and sitting back quietly to watch how people do things in a new place. It lets me be aware of the vastness of life outside of my own little world.

Airports... Especially International Ones

The first international airport I ever landed in was in Dubai. I remember getting off the plane and seeing people in long, loose garments and head coverings, speaking languages I couldn't understand. And beside them of course was my group, a dozen denim clad Americans, towing along suitcases as we made jokes and laughed a bit too loudly. It was amazing. I learned there that airports are these strange, unique places where the world converges and then divides in a series of moments. Suddenly the idea of long layovers didn't sound like boredom or torture but like an opportunity for adventure- no matter how hard it is to take a nap on the cold floor with only a travel pillow for comfort.

I've been in quite a few airports since then and while I dread security lines as much as the next person, I can't help the rush of excitement and adrenaline that fills my chest each time I step into one. It's almost as intoxicating as the feeling I get in those last few seconds before my airplane heads off the runway. I still hate heights and pretty much avoid roller coasters at all costs. But get me in an airplane a few thousand miles off the ground, and I'll be fascinated for hours on end.

Traveling is addicting, and I definitely understand why. It really is like no other experience in the world. But I also love the things it's taught me that stayed even when I got back home. It's made me appreciate differences a lot more and look for beauty everywhere around me. I don't have to get an airplane to do those things, and neither do you. :)

#travel #2015