Traveling is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating things a person can do in their entire lifetime! Not only are you able to learn something new, or see something you haven't yet seen, you can have the ability to be somewhere you never thought of being! Traveling is the best way to experience something unimaginable, and see the world through your own eyes in a completely new perspective.
I travel to see the world, and I travel to live and breathe other cultures.
I travel because I enjoy seeing how other people live and how it's different from my day-to-day life. I love to see what others eat, how they communicate, as well as how they travel around town. Not only that, but the landscapes around can pretty much sum up the entire place, wherever that may be!
When a person reads or hears about a place they have never been to, they usually always wonder what it would be like to be there. It's always different to actually be able to see places with your own eyes, rather than a picture on a random piece of paper or in a book... Traveling is seeing the world clearly by taking risks. One can always sit at home and travel within their mind, but it's definitely not the same thing! You can learn more about the culture of the people around you, and actually experience it, as well as learn some new facts or bring back interesting stories with yourself after the trip. It may seem like everywhere you go in the world, it's the same... It may be similar in some ways, but it's always a completely different world than where a person may live. In my case, Illinois. I bet that even Wisconsin, or Indiana, some of our bordering states, can be a truly different atmosphere. No matter where you go in the world, it's always an adventure, even if you've been there a million times. You always find something new or a breath-taking landscape in which you "lose your mind" in... Simply, we travel in order to keep our minds and heart wide open, and accept what is around us, as well as learn about the world, probably more than you even wanted to know! My thoughts on traveling completely agree with those of Iyer, in every way possible! As Pico Eyer says, "We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves". "The real voyage of discovery consists not seeing new places, but in seeing with new eyes".
This is one of many of Iyer's thoughts about travel. When you travel, you shouldn't expect something or make certain assumptions of wherever you may be... On the other hand, you should look at it more open-minded with a newer perspective! Look at your surroundings and indulge every second of it! That's the only way to take in this experience and remember it for the rest of your life...
"What gives value to travel is fear", is another way of looking at travel from Iyer's point of view. Memories are your past, present, and future! No matter what kind of day you may be in at the moment, you always look back at certain days in your life and reflect and remember those good times you had with your friends, or family, and what it was like... Good things only come out of traveling when you fear the unknown. You don't have the slightest idea of WHAT you're going to stumble upon on a trip, and once something happens, you realize it was good and just makes those memories even stronger! You don't know what will happen... And on this trip, I will just do that: enjoy every moment of every day! You never know what will come your way in the next 2 seconds! Whether it be funny, sad, amusing, horrible, unexpected, serious, hilarious, happy, a total madness... I could go on, and on, and on! There are so many things that can happen in one single day, it's hard NOT to keep your mind open and laugh along with your new friends on this once-in-a-lifetime trip!
Let's pretend you got dropped off in the middle of nowhere... Now, what are you going to do? The first thing that probably comes to your mind is to take out that phone and call for help! That's the smart move (which probably is) for most people. But, if you're a traveler, you keep your phone in your pocket and start walking, looking at your surroundings, wondering what this place is like... You look one way and you see boring old trees, but you turn your head the other, and what seems to stand before you is gorgeous scene of mountains and a lake reflecting the sunshine from the sky... And you think: Wow, this is amazing! Automatically, you pull out that handy-dandy camera and take a snapshot. By the time you get back to town, your camera is full of pictures and you head is filled with wonderful views and memories that are worthy to be shown and told! Once you have someone's attention, you start telling them about your sudden adventure in that "middle of nowhere"! That is what being a "carrier pigeon" is all about! Not only are you transporting ideas and events, but you are actually retelling your entire trip, detail by detail. Whether it be about culture or sights, you, the traveler, have the responsibility and skill to share your knowledge and experience with all the people you know! A traveler can help images come to life in people's minds, especially those who haven't been able to experience what you did, or go to a certain place where you did, but they've always dreamed about...
"Travel in that sense guides us toward a better balance of wisdom and compassion- of seeing the world clearly, and yet feeling it truly. For seeing without feeling can obviously be uncaring; while feeling without seeing can be blind".
This is probably one of my favorite quotes! It pretty much explains the word "travel" in every way... It states the truth of what you can and can't get out of a trip, and what is the key to having the best experience EVER! Depending on how you look at the trip head of you, that's the way your trip will become. Taking risks and doing the unexpected and most unusual things, a simple trip across the world can become the memory of a lifetime!!!
I know this is probably the longest blog post ever created on this Earth, but I can't seem to say enough about what traveling is to me... Travel can open up a doorway to your dreams and goals and through it, you can become a much better, more intelligent person than you were before!
I can't wait until the first day of the Australia trip! I've never been there before, and by going there and experiencing the world in a different way, I will soon enough be able to say: "I have been to Australia and New Zealand!"
"What gives value to travel is fear", is another way of looking at travel from Iyer's point of view. Memories are your past, present, and future! No matter what kind of day you may be in at the moment, you always look back at certain days in your life and reflect and remember those good times you had with your friends, or family, and what it was like... Good things only come out of traveling when you fear the unknown. You don't have the slightest idea of WHAT you're going to stumble upon on a trip, and once something happens, you realize it was good and just makes those memories even stronger! You don't know what will happen... And on this trip, I will just do that: enjoy every moment of every day! You never know what will come your way in the next 2 seconds! Whether it be funny, sad, amusing, horrible, unexpected, serious, hilarious, happy, a total madness... I could go on, and on, and on! There are so many things that can happen in one single day, it's hard NOT to keep your mind open and laugh along with your new friends on this once-in-a-lifetime trip!
Let's pretend you got dropped off in the middle of nowhere... Now, what are you going to do? The first thing that probably comes to your mind is to take out that phone and call for help! That's the smart move (which probably is) for most people. But, if you're a traveler, you keep your phone in your pocket and start walking, looking at your surroundings, wondering what this place is like... You look one way and you see boring old trees, but you turn your head the other, and what seems to stand before you is gorgeous scene of mountains and a lake reflecting the sunshine from the sky... And you think: Wow, this is amazing! Automatically, you pull out that handy-dandy camera and take a snapshot. By the time you get back to town, your camera is full of pictures and you head is filled with wonderful views and memories that are worthy to be shown and told! Once you have someone's attention, you start telling them about your sudden adventure in that "middle of nowhere"! That is what being a "carrier pigeon" is all about! Not only are you transporting ideas and events, but you are actually retelling your entire trip, detail by detail. Whether it be about culture or sights, you, the traveler, have the responsibility and skill to share your knowledge and experience with all the people you know! A traveler can help images come to life in people's minds, especially those who haven't been able to experience what you did, or go to a certain place where you did, but they've always dreamed about... "Travel in that sense guides us toward a better balance of wisdom and compassion- of seeing the world clearly, and yet feeling it truly. For seeing without feeling can obviously be uncaring; while feeling without seeing can be blind".
I know this is probably the longest blog post ever created on this Earth, but I can't seem to say enough about what traveling is to me... Travel can open up a doorway to your dreams and goals and through it, you can become a much better, more intelligent person than you were before!I can't wait until the first day of the Australia trip! I've never been there before, and by going there and experiencing the world in a different way, I will soon enough be able to say: "I have been to Australia and New Zealand!"
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