I did it. I am going. I have purchased my one-way ticket to Colombia and I’m not turning back—for now. In May, I leave for a two-month solo backpacking trip throughout South America. I’m nineteen years young and I’m doing it. I’m taking off and going on the trip of my fantasies. I’m excited, terrified, electrified, and hopeful. More than anything, I’m ready.
After I first tasted the thrill of travel, I was hooked. When my parents first took me abroad to Mexico, they did not expect that I would fall in love. His name was the World and I was undeniably enamored. I was unleashed into the colorful layers of culture and people and exploration. It was a place so different than my New Jersey suburban standard. I didn’t want to go back. The World invited me on the best date of my life.
Come travel, said the World, as he bestowed upon me the most glorious of gifts: wanderlust.
Since then I have buried my face in gooey cheese in Paris, France bathed in thermal springs in the Ecuadorian mountains, danced with the locals under the stars on Greek beaches. Each moment abroad has been a blessing.
Traveling has revitalized a spirit in me I did not even know existed. When I’m exploring a foreign land, my happiness becomes radiant. It becomes palpable. To chase that joy, I continue to travel.
I’m not alone in this journey to discover as much of the globe as possible. Within the internet lies a wonderfully immense travel community. It has become so easy to hook up with fellow-travel obsessed people on forums like Lonely Planet, for instance. You can meet new friends and find out the best local spots in a small village before even arriving to the new territory. There are so many tips and travel guides at our disposal. The blossoming travel community is incredible and inspiring. When I peruse Instagram travel accounts, I can’t help but feel that nagging itch to hop on a plane and explore.
In the words of one my favorite female travel bloggers, Gloria Atanmo of The Blog Abroad, “If you get one chance to live on this big, amazing planet your entire life, however long that may be, wouldn’t you want to spend time exploring it? Learning about it? Challenging it? Loving it? Yeah, me too.”
Count me in.
This summer, I am going. I am doing it. That wondrous wanderlust glows within us all. Unleash it. Make that dream trip you have always been thinking about a reality and fall in love with the World. Be bold, book the ticket, and go.
Seriously; what’s stopping you? Check out my recent trip to Miami here. And of course who can forget last year’s #YHMTravels adventures? Share your spring and summer trips with us using the hashtag #yhmtravels on Instagram and Facebook