Why I Travel
I am not entirely sure where I got the bug from. Whether it was from my parents taking me on some trips as a kid, visiting the Florida fam, listening to my pops talk about his childhood memories and traveling with his siblings and my grandparents. Or maybe it was in college when my good friend Taylor and I would sit and talk about traveling the world on mopeds and just getting out to see the world (we still have these talks to this day). It could’ve been when my girlfriend I started taking small trips to Chicago and then kept venturing further and further from home. It could even be my love for photography, and my desire to capture the world one frame at a time. I am not sure where to pin-point it, but I do know that I have become infested with travel bugs and I am perfectly fine with it.
Traveling has become a hobby to me. I am by no means a crazy world traveler like the guys from Departures (watch it on Netflix), or Travis Burke and Chelsea Kauai (must follows on Instagram), and I could never dream of traveling like one of my heroes Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia). Side Note: Watch 180 Degrees South, you will get a little intro to Yvon and view one of my favorite documentaries. Anyways, I have gotten a chance to see bits and piece of this world and hope to continue to do so, and share those experiences with you. Hopefully it will inspire you to travel.
Over the past few years, I guess you could say I've grown up a little. My views have changed, I try to live in the moment, and I am quickly learning how short of a time we have on this planet. I understand that travel may not be for everyone, but I feel there are some important things that can be learned from traveling that you are not able to experience in the comfort of your home.
As a kid I was a horribly picky eater, I feel bad for my parents and siblings, when it comes to food. I used to refuse to eat Jacks frozen pizza, and claimed I only liked Tombstone, and oh my, if you put anything other than pepperoni on that pizza I wasn’t touching it. Obviously you can experience different food and drinks anywhere you live thanks to restaurants, but truly learning about food, comes with being in a locals home, or going in the kitchen and seeing how it is prepared and where it came from. It gives you a true appreciation of the food that is put in front of you. This is something that I hope to experience more with my travels. If you have read previous blogs, you are probably aware that when I travel, I drink beer; I try to keep it as local as possible with wherever we are visiting. We go straight to the brewery and talk with the people there to learn a little about the beer and meet the locals; it has become kind of a tradition for when my girlfriend and I travel. This is something I really enjoy doing, and is something you could do with different drinks or food on future travels; finding that best pizza joint or eating the local favorite cuisine in each place you visit could become something that drives you to travel.
This is probably a common thing these days, but people can get lost in their phones. They find news instantly at their fingertips, watch tv on any device that has a screen, and text while they walk, run, bike, drive, swim, or even dance. We literally have the world at our fingertips, and that isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes its nice to just get away from the world of technology for a bit, and not look to see who commented on what, checking how many likes your instagram has, or not watch CSI Branson or some show like that on a nightly basis. TV and the Internet are great, but it so refreshing not to be lost in them. Most state parks and national parks I have visited don’t have reliable service, so disconnecting with the world is not very difficult and you don’t really have a choice. Going for a hike in these places allows you to have conversations with the people your with, and truly appreciate where you are and be grateful you are able to be in that spot at that moment, as you may never get back to that spot ever again.
The most important part of Travel to me is culture. The beautiful thing about people in this world is we all come from different walks of life. We all have different beliefs, values and traditions. Travel allows you to experience these important aspects. You are able to experience how people live throughout the world, what they eat, and find difference as small as the proper way to greet one another in that community. With such a fast paced environment here in the states as well as other parts of the world, I feel like culture is starting to fade. Little by little you see small groups that have been displaced due to advancements in this world. For example, here in the US we have totally disrespected the Natives of this land by ignoring their request to not construct a pipeline through their sacred burial grounds and water sources. These are things that push culture away and it is happening everywhere. Which are usually decisions made by big corporations and their greed (sorry to get political). I feel that traveling gives you a new look on life. You appreciate the differences in people and places. You understand why people live the way they do, and for me, it gives me perspective and really appreciate the simple things in life. We often take for granted things like clean water, access to water, ease of transportation, working toilets, warm showers, and technology. I truly feel if people were able to experience different cultures day to day and have an open mind about it, hate would turn to compassion, war would turn to peace, and greed would turn to generosity.
Lastly, I travel because I love photography. As I get more into photography I find myself searching for the next great picture that reflects how I view this lovely world. I want to capture what I experience throughout my life, as those images will live on for a long time. Whether it is a bustling city, a sunset on the ocean, or an excursion through the mountains I intend to capture it.
Overall, everyone has their different ideas and reasons to travel, but everyone that has the means to should travel and experience something outside of their norm. I think if everyone had the had the ability to do so, it would make the world a better place, and people would be more appreciative of one another and develop a more compassionate environment. So use your paid time off, and if you don’t have paid time off, go unpaid. If you want to quit your job and travel, do it. If you don’t have the means to travel, take and adventure in your city, or find a local state or national park that you can visit just to get away for a bit, and even if you don’t have the means to do that, read about travel or different cultures, but it is important to explore this earth in some way, as your time here is very brief. So find your travel buddies (city cats), travel alone, travel with your wife, husband, partner, girlfriend, boyfriend or whomever that may be and explore.