IAM Thinking about the joy of travelling

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves."--Pico Iyer


"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." --Saint Augustine

“Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made clearer.  Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour of meaning and art.” ~Freya Stark

           Today IAM thinking about travelling and all of the enrichment that travel has brought to my life.  I cannot fully describe the feeling that I get when I travel—it is though I totally embrace a new part of myself that I didn’t know existed.  Whenever I am on vacation, I rediscover my passion for adventure and cultural awareness.  I savor those moments and try to capture them through journaling and turning my memories into a page in my ever-growing scrapbook.  Yet the real magnificence that I capture from an experience abroad exists internally and cannot be matched until I take my next vacation.

 I started travelling at a young age with family trips all over New England, Florida, California, and our annual trip to my grandparents’ timeshare in Aruba.  I was fortunate enough to be brought up by a family who values rich cultural experiences and who encourages me to always pursue my passion.  When I was in high school, I played soccer abroad in Scotland and England and in my junior year of college, I spent some time studying in Australia.  Additionally, I have taken a few trips to Italy to connect with relatives and to pay tribute to my Italian heritage. My trips to Italy have taught me a lot about where I come from and the life that  my grandparents left behind for the promise of "the American Dream".  I have had the pleasure of meeting relatives for the first time whose generosity is unbelievable.  Although I had never met some of these relatives before, the idea that we are family was enough to inspire such unyielding generosity. I felt extremely guilty because I did not have the capability of communicating with some of these relatives, and I vowed to learn some Italian by the next time that I went to Italy. I greatly anticipate my next trip to Italy, which is scheduled for this spring. I have been taking an Italian class since September, and I hope that I am able to keep my promise. The last time that I was in Italy, I got to see an Italian graduation ceremony.  On this trip, I will also have the pleasure of witnessing my first Italian wedding.  Experiences like these cannot be replaced.

 I have taken something from every trip that I have ever taken.  For example, my passion for extreme sports and some of my most significant "outside of my comfort zone" experiences occurred in Australia. To this day, I cannot believe that I went bungee jumping and skydiving in the same day; this insanity was undoubtedly inspired by the energy that I felt while I was in Aussie. I have taken the concept of "Maui time" and slowing down life a little from my experience in Hawaii. I also started following the Green Smoothie Revolution as a result of conversations that I had while I was in Hawaii. I have taken a sense of peace and spirituality from my trip to Israel.  I have never seen such a beautiful celebration of a religion and a people.  No where else have I seen people literally dancing in the street as a form of celebration.  During every trip, I learn something new and significant about myself and although to varying degrees, my view of the world always changes.  Travelling helps me to appreciate the beauty of the seemingly mundane elements of our day to day lives.  

I really love Pico Iyer's essay, Why We Travel because I think that he captures the essence of how I feel about travelling.  The concept of vacation holds the appeal of an escape from reality and a chance to, as Iyer says, lose ourselves.  Yet, as I described earlier, throughout every trip, I always seem to discover or to reawaken a part of myself that I didn't know existed or that I forgot.  In fact, most of the clarity that I have received throughout my life and some of the most major life decisions that I have made have resulted from one of my travel experiences.  

So today IAM thinking about the importance of travel and how the experiences that we have abroad are priceless and thus worth every penny.  I encourage you, my supportive readers, to take advantage of travel opportunities whenever possible.  Don't just sit around and read about places or listen to others' experiences with travel.  Take a drive, get on a plane, a train, a bus...get out there!  The world is a rich and abundant place!


This is what IAM thinking...what about you?!