I’ve not looked back at my decision to travel anywhere near as much as I have in the last week. After all I’ve quit my job, you know that place you go for 8+ hours a day and at the end of the week they give you money. Not only that but I will be saying goodbye to all of my friends and family for who knows how long. Oh and to top it off a volcano of all things is threatening to delay the start of my trip.
Yes I know its most likely just last minutes nerves and I’m still dead set determined to make this THE MOST amazing moment in my life to date. But seriously, when a volcano blows up and threatens to be that when things go wrong moment you take notice alright. Perhaps the powers at be are trying to tell me something.
So I thought back to my motivations on why I’m doing this. Why am I leaving so much behind for the unknown? All my life I’ve been about having a job, keeping my job and making money from my job. This travel lifestyle so to speak goes against pretty much everything I’ve dreamt of since I was able to make a quid.
Travelling doesn’t make me rich (well it does for a select few), it sure as hell doesn’t make my mum happy having me so far away and worst of all its going to land me in a country where I will have no idea how much a pint of beer is going to cost me . WHAT AM I DOING!!!!
I’ll tell you what I’m doing, I’m taking a moment and looking at the world with a fresh mind and perspective. I want to experience what others only dream of when they look to the sky and wonder what the other side of the world is doing at that precise moment, you know you’ve all done that before.
There are a million and one things that prompted me into this. A relationship gone wrong, wanting to break the routine, jealous of others, stupidity to think it was easy. The list just goes on and on and on…..
At the end though when I’m standing at the pearly gates or whatever you believe is after this life. i want to look back and say Yes. Yes I had a good time, Yes I have no regrets and Yes can I go again?
Why do you travel, what started you off in the beginning? Leave a comment and let me know because comments make the beer taste extra special.
I am a dreamer. Once I became aware that there were a million other places than “here”, I had to experience as much as I could. That and I want to experience humanity… the thought that we are all the same. We have families. We laugh, cry, etc.
.-= Erica´s last blog ..Fuzzy Friends =-.
I hear you Erica. I would forever look to the sky and wonder what someone on the other side of the world was doing. Now I’m going to find out. Thanks for the comment.
Chris,
I’ve got a very similar background; I’ve had a job since I was 15, worked hard at school, not *so* hard at uni, then got on the public sector grad scheme to try and be a senior official and i’m witihin spitting distance of it.
And now stop.
What I’ve realised is that what I love is photography, which I didn’t ever study and i set up my own business without any prior knowledge.
So why not stop doing everything and me and the man i love can travel the world and see what other options we have? And along the way, experience food, and people, culture, places and being.
I cannot wait to just mentally and physically relax and just be.
.-= sean´s last blog ..We’re a top travel blog!! =-.
I hear ya Sean. I still love IT/Computers etc but perhaps I can have 2 loves. This travel stuff sure is exciting. I mean right now I’m in Singapore and as happy as can be.
I disagree…traveling DOES make you rich…just not in a monetary way! The way traveling enriches your life, well there is no price to it. I travel because I have an insatiable curiosity. My soul also comes alive when I am exploring and I LOVE that feeling of ANYTHING can happen. 🙂
Mate, I wish you the most incredible journey of your life. I have no doubt that this will be the best decision you ever made. XOXO
.-= Andi´s last blog ..India: Day 1 =-.
Oh Andi that’s just a given. Travel does wonders for your attitude and general well being. You can benefit so much from watching and living with others.
“WHAT AM I DOING!!!! I’ll tell you what I’m doing…” You always make me smile!
I started traveling because I couldn’t *not* do it. It wasn’t until after college that I wanted to see the world…the desire really came out of nowhere, but it came on strong and has never left. I know I’m not as well traveled as most who do travel, but I do it in my own way and am hungry for more. It’s what I think about most all of the time.
Let me know which day you’re definitely heading out, and I’ll have a beer in your honor!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..noplacelikeoz: @BootsnAll and @JamesMerrimanUK Thanks for the love! =-.
hehe Heather, its better I make you laugh than cry right.
I hope your drinking up right now cos I’m half way to Paris right now.
It’s 9:10am and I’m having breakfast, but I’ll have one for ya later in the day!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..A Few of My Favorite Things =-.
Not good enough Heather, you need practice for when your in Australia 🙂
Hey mate,
I think this is one of the things that we all ponder over from time to time – I wrote a similar piece recently (called, amazingly enough, “Why Do I Do It?”).
For me the first time I travelled was the easiest in terms of justifying it, I reckon. I was 22, had just finished uni and had no job lined up, very few possessions and a burning desire to get out of small town New Zealand (it makes Ballarat look cosmopolitan…). In other words, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting on the plane. And gain I did!
As for why I’ve kept doing it ever since – well that’s a different story. Check out the article if you’re interested in the detail, but in essence finding new places, meeting new people and experiencing their lives and cultures has become an addiction that has dominated my life for seemingly forever now. Oh well, it’s healthier and (slightly) cheaper than taking up crack, I guess…
Hope to see ya out there somewhere on the road!
.-= Dave´s last blog ..What travel has taught me =-.
haha love it Dave. I travel for very similar reasons, I just want to see the places and meet the people.
My first time travelling was easy as it was with someone. That got me hooked now I’m confident/stupid enough to go it alone. Lookout for what comes next.
Because I can´t not travel. To open up to other cultures and differences. To learn languages. To see the world. To meet people. To confront myself.
.-= Elke´s last blog ..5 Essential and Free Travel Apps For Android =-.
I want to learn languages but I’m so terrible at it. Here’s hoping that when I find myself with non-english speakers I can perhaps finally learn some.
Definitely along the same lines as you Chris. I travel for the experiences, the people, the languages, the food and drink, the sights and sounds, the history, but also for the fun. I love the hilarity that travel can bring through experiences at the time you may not find so funny. I travel to be changed by something I wouldn’t experience if I just stayed home. Hopefully that change is for the better.
.-= Suzy´s last blog ..“Can’t” and Travel Don’t Go Together =-.
Hey Suzy, I am going to have so many spur of the moment stories and adventures that i just wouldn’t get at home. Add to that the history and people like you said and its just a recipe for the time of your life.
I travel to see how another part of the world lives because I know there is more to life than sunny California. I travel to widen my perspectives not only about other people but about myself. I want to challenge myself and find what is important to me.
.-= Joya´s last blog ..Where Am I Traveling to Next? It’s Closer Than You Think =-.
Hi Joya. Oh I so didn’t know you lived in California 🙂 Exactly, how much fun is it to see how the rest of the world lives. You gain a better appreciation for the world I think by doing so.
I started out just wanting to get out of suburban Oz, to anywhere. It then turned to getting as far off the beaten track as possible. Now its more just having the time with my partner that’s not stuffed around 9-7pm jobs. I think it becomes less about the destination and more about who you are with and meet.
.-= Brook Mitchell´s last blog ..Smells, Spaces and Tea-Houses in the ROC (aka Taiwan) =-.
Well I’m doing it solo for now (woman of my dreams feel free to appear and come with me though) and I’m just going to enjoy meeting people and seeing new places. With just me to look after I can sleep in or see that museum and just be myself.
Travel has always been the one thing I will sacrifice for. I’m pretty thrifty, but I will spend money on it, I will be inconvenienced for it, I will lose work time and money for it.
I love travel because it forces you out of your element. I think you’re like the best of yourself when you do it–you’re still you, but you’re in this realm of learning and being curious and enjoying and not worrying about the day to day, hum drum things. It’s like you’re really living.
I hope this experience is the best it can be for you, mate.
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy =-.
Out of my element indeed Lauren. I’ll be forced to do and try things i would never have considered. That just makes it even more interesting I think. You can be free and just be who you are.
Hmm, tried to comment, and it didn’t go through!
I travel because it takes you out of your element. I feel like I’m my best self when I travel. I’m still me, but more open, curious, sociable, inspired. I’m not worrying about trivial, day-to-day things that can bog all of us down. I feel like I’m really living.
I hope this opportunity is amazing for you, mate.
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy =-.
I think I travel because nothing else makes me feel quite so alive. Even little things,like going to the grocery store or doing laundry are challenges and experiences when you are not at home. I hate the idea of life passing me by, and when I travel I feel like I am truly making the most of every moment and really experiencing life.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Flirting with San Francisco =-.
Hey Stephanie, I know right. How much more fun is it to walk into a foreign supermarket than your local back home.
Sounds like you have a case of the pre-travel jitters, bud! Don’t worry, tis natural. Disaster follows me too. I was in Mexico when the Swine Flu broke out. I went to London not long after the subway bombing. And I was in France when Air France went down. TERRIFYING.
You’ll come back to this trip and be able to nail down an even better reason of why you travel, and I suspect your life will never be the same.
.-= Candice´s last blog ..The Junos, Newfoundland Hospitality, and Celebrating Come-From-Aways =-.
Shh Candice don’t tell everybody that 🙂 Wow you did have trouble follow you.Don’t bring it to France OK we don’t wanna get locked up partying too hard.
I travel for the first-hand education. It was actually after spending six months studying in Melbourne during university that made me realize how little I would know about the world with just a standard, educational institute-provided education.
And I recall questioning my decision for weeks before I left for my first backpacking trip (which has now lasted 10 years) but as soon as I landed in my first destination, I instantly knew I had made the right choice to travel. And now I just can’t stop because I crave the education that being out of my comfort zone constantly offers.
.-= Earl´s last blog ..My Asylum From The Insanity Of Travel =-.
Hi Earl thanks for the comment. I’ll admit leaving my family at the airport earlier today sure had me wondering if I had made the right decision.
Now I’m waiting for my follow up flight to Paris and I’m sitting here with a grin from ear to ear. I know this is the thing for me.
Like everyone here, I think I travel because there is something in me that needs to go. It just is. Travel is part of me and I can’t escape it.
Hey Akila. I can sense that need building in me. I can only imagine how much of a hold it will have over me when I finish in Europe. Thanks for the comment.
I travel because I realize that there is so much out there that I don’t know about. It’s impossible to know even a good part of what the world is like without actually going out there and seeing it firsthand. Even if you read about the world every day, you’ll never get an idea of what it is really like out there until you see it. I’ve made it my goal in life to get out there and experience everything, travel included.
I travel because…well why not? We have a limited number of days on this beautiful earth and I can’t think of a better way to appreciate this life. Experience new food, cultures, people…hmm, can’t beat it.
Now if I could travel full time…..yum! 🙂
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