Let’s face the fact America. It’s not our way to travel.
It’s our way to look at magazines and the travel channel and say, “I want to go
there,” then put it on our list of things to do, but rarely cross it off. We
don’t encourage our youth to go explore and work abroad. Our youth stays at
home and watches shows about teen pregnancy and keeps up-to-date with the
latest celebrity gossip. Our youth goes to school, then goes to more school,
then goes and works a 9-5 and perhaps will travel for a week or two later on in
life.
What’s the point of going away? you may ask, since we
obviously live in the best country in the world. Fun fact, there are a whole
lot of patriotic citizens from other places that think that their
country is the best in the world, but that doesn’t stop them from supporting
their young people to go and explore the world. What do you gain from
travelling? You gain independence. You get out of your comfort zone and develop
a better understanding of other cultures and a broader understanding of the
world around you that you would have never gained sitting at a desk for the
rest of your days.
Afraid to go off because you’ll be alone? When you
travel you meet others doing the same. Your acquaintances become your
friends who become your family, and the thing about family is, you take care of
each other.
Another reason that you stop yourself: money. Money?!
Who cares!! No, just kidding. You do need money to travel, but you don’t need
to be rich. You just need base funds and a good work ethic. There are working
holiday visas out there, emphasis on the working aspect. You can go
somewhere halfway across the world, somewhere you only dreamed of and you can
work while you’re there so you can have a steady income.
In the end the real reason that stops us from travelling or
perhaps pursuing another one our dreams is fear. Fear helps us makes excuses.
Fear helps us put off our dreams for another day, another week, another
lifetime. We have one life, and a life spent in fear is a life wasted. The
world has never been more open or fuller of opportunities. Take a chance, take
a leap. You’re not average, you’re exceptional. So live your life that way.
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| Tunnel Mountain, Banff, Alberta, Canada 2013 |
