Growing up I always associated traveling and “being a wanderlust” with a concept for those that were well off. It’s grandiose. I could never afford that. Maybe someday when I’ve made real tangible “adult money” I can possibly go to Italy like I’ve always dreamed.
Although I still think a lot of these things are true, my opinions have changed on just how possible it is to save money, plan accordingly and just travel. Take that trip you’ve always wanted to take and don’t look back. I used every “traveling” cliche in the book to justify the amount of money I spent going all throughout several countries in Europe. In the last two months on three separate occasions with my girlfriend, my sister and with my father and aunt, I took trips to France, Italy, Spain and Amsterdam. All of these trips were undoubtedly the highlight of my study abroad experience. London truly is an exceptional city to begin a European adventure and I feel lucky to have been granted this study abroad opportunity through Rollins. This blog post I’ll spare you the details of each and every place I visited and I’ll attempt to answer the ever so intriguing question: Why do we travel?
My favorite traveling cliche is very apt in describing how I feel about the topic and it’s along the lines of: Traveling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer. I’m sure certain stock brokers might disagree but I have to say that I agree with this one strongly. 6 months ago I think I might’ve laughed pretty hard at this cliche but now I understand it. If I’m breaking down why I believe people travel I think it boils down to three core concepts:
- Temporarily stepping away from the norm
- Belonging elsewhere
- Gloating and the social media effect
Imagine the best vacation you ever took. Did you work while on it? Did you have to worry about the usual chores and tasks that you might worry about if you were home? The answer is almost always no. Traveling is getting a break, although not permanent, from the sometimes unavoidable mundaneness that is working and studying. Traveling and vacationing is that much better because it’s a treat, a reward of some sort. My thoughts on stepping away from the norm this entire study abroad experience was heightened because the bulk of my time in London was spent staying at my dorm with a tight grip on my cash. I had to keep things simple and only spend money on transport and groceries so that I could afford to travel for as long as I did towards the latter months.
On this best vacation when you went somewhere else, did you want to do exactly what all the tourists do and stick to a strict no-local favorites itinerary? Well I certainly hope not. Although many people I’ve seen can succumb to this trap I’d argue that most humans have a general need for belonging and this need extends to traveling. Sites like TripAdvisor and yelp exist so that one can find where the locals go. People want unique experiences that are familiar to locals because it may be an activity, food or sight that can only be seen in the country or city in question. In my experience I found that my strategy was to always get to a place, put my bags down and explore. I asked complete strangers in their language where I should eat, what I should order and where were some of their personal favorite places to go. I think asking a stranger what they personally like, throws them off because it’s ultra personal and it’s not the same as asking for recommendations. If you ask for recommendations you may as well ask other tourists where they’re headed to. You’ll likely end up in a tourist trap.
A trend one can simply not deny is how unrepresentative instagram feeds can be of one’s actual daily life, temperament and feelings. Why is it that we only post “the good stuff” on our feeds? I’m guilty of it too. There’s little to no vulnerability anymore. I think traveling has a negative stigma at times because some people use it as an excuse to go to a place and get a good photo. Why? Well, good photos with witty captions lead to the maximum number of likes and, if you’re lucky, more followers. Going abroad and moving around I learned to realize when I had to put my phone down and I also came to understand just how insignificant social media can be sometimes to actually connecting humans. The best experiences I had with people while in Europe was through communication and interaction with no Facebook or twitter involved. I wish to keep this energy going.
So all in all, no matter why we travel or why it’s an opportunity to experience unique things it’s hard to deny that it is pretty sweet.