“The World is Your Oyster”, while slightly cliche, seems an apt first post for this renewed foray into travel blogging.
Every time I’m home my grandmother encourages me to travel, travel, travel, and when I think I can’t bear it, travel even more. She shares these pearls of wisdom with me, because like many others of her age, she regrets not having taken the opportunity to travel while she was young. In part, my grandmother avoided travel because of fear. She was afraid to leave home. She was afraid of how finances would be sorted. She was afraid that being in a foreign country would mean to be isolated and alone.
Like my grandmother, many travelers and would be travelers are also held back by our fears. Fears that we can’t put our career on hold, fears of not meeting societal expectations of what a “20/30/40/50/60 something” should be doing, and of course, financial fears. This is where I think it is important to remind ourselves that, “The World is Your Oyster”, not hers, not his, not theres, but yours. Don’t let your career, friends, family, or society dictate your life. If you want to travel, and you have the financial means, then take the plunge/drive/flight into a new adventure.
Of course, not all of us have a cash reserve in excess, then look into travel opportunities such as: voluntouring, wwoof, teaching abroad, or peace corps. While not always paid, these programs provide people with international experience with lower costs than traditional travel itineraries.
Don’t keep pushing off travel, the future can certainly wait but the world cannot. Everyday our world is changing; development is on the upswing while conservancy is flailing, don’t miss your opportunity to get out into the great outdoors!
K
theroamingheart 