Posts
On several occasions my friend Keith has asked me why do I travel? "What is the point of it?" Each time he asks I can't help but get a bit miffed and try to come up with an deep philosophical explanation and each time I fall short. Then one day it hit me. Just like any passion, the desire is organic and somewhat indescribable, but I'll make one last attempt to put it into words. Here goes: travel is fun, I enjoy it and it makes me happy! Inspiration, satisfaction and a plain-ole hand-on-my-hip "Because I want to!," all come to mind when I think about my travel history and travel plans. Everytime I go somewhere, I come back with a new outlook on life and a better appreciation of all that this world has to offer and of my homeland, the USA. A contributing factor to it is my love of photography and the great outdoors.
I grew up when it was a big deal to playing outside.I climbed trees, made mud pies, planted flowers and played in a creek down the street and I think that manifested into wanting to see great works of Father God and Mother Nature such as The midnight sun, black sand, and the Pink Lake first hand. Why do I want to see all of that? Because I want to, because I can, because its fun, I enjoy it and it makes me happy!
I also think part of my desire to travel has something to do with being an American. Americans are the self-proclaimed gold-standard of what the rest of the world should be, but American culture is composed of countless cultures from around the world. For the most part we take ideas, strip it of anything authentic, stamp the American flag on it and call it our own. All things didn't originate in the Great U.S. of A. For example, if you ask the average person about fried food, they'll say it is southern tradition or give some outlandish explanation about slaves, but food historians will say the first documented fried food was a fritter during Medieval Times in ancient Rome.
As the human race, we are divided and characterized by cultures, social norms and race, but geographically there are no boundaries, no borders (well, for the most part). On a trip to New York, my seat mate turned and said to me," The world seems so much smaller when you get on a plane." After my eyes stopped burning and I could no longer hold my breath b/c his was ON FIRE, I thought about what he said and took it as truth.
Now it is your turn. Leave a comment and tell me why(or why not) you ♥ to travel.
|
Post a Comment