You could Google “reasons to travel” and I imagine you would
come up with 452 different reasons.
Traveling is good for you. You
might get something completely different out of traveling than your friends,
but at the end of the day it is still all positive. I’ll be the first to admit that routine is
not always a bad thing. Waking up everyday and seeing the same
things, talking to the same people, and living the same life will continually
get you – what you have always got.
When I was a teenager I signed up for a missions trip to
Mexico. Our main goal for this trip was
to serve in anyway possible – odd jobs, construction, lending an ear, whatever
they needed. Growing up in Southern California, I was your typical American boy. Grew
up in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Had
an older brother who taught me about sports, girls, and life. Had an older sister who kept me in line. Had a younger sister who I kept in line? Had
two awesome parents. Had tons of cool
friends. Loved to play video games. Drank too much soda. Loved sports. Hated math and loved PE. Never spent my
weekends indoors. You get the point. Mexico
was probably the easiest “foreign” country to go to. It was about four hours (depending on
traffic) to the border. I didn’t know
what to expect, and being so young my mind was pretty open to anything. I had figured that we were going to go down
there, have some fun, and help some people.
When I got back from that trip I almost felt guilty. I felt like selling all my things, never
buying a brand name shoe again, and saying thank you to my Mom and Dad for
always putting food on the table at mealtime.
The people I met down there had a bigger smile on their face with half
the amount of material things, than most people did where I grew up. I was changed. I was shocked. I was
hooked.
This typical boy
turned into a busy boy. The word travel now came in the form of work as opposed to play. College baseball and
baseball as a profession allowed me to travel, a lot. Good thing for me is that even while you are
working you can still play! Until
recently, my travels kept me in the United States. For those who think that different culture
can only be found in places outside of your country you should go spend an hour
on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, eat at the Blue Plate Cafe in Memphis, see a
show at The Stage In Nashville, or take a drive down the streets of
Anchorage. If time, money, or fear of
flying is limiting you to staying in the States, do not worry there is still a
lot to see!
I owe a lot of my travel addiction to my Brother in
law. He was a missionary kid and grew up
in Taiwan. If there’s guy that knows
travel its him. You can even tell he’s
traveled a lot just because of his personality and how he makes choices in
life. It’s truly amazing what travel can
do to a person. I was still a little
skeptical about traveling outside of the States mainly because I thought I was
going to have to do it alone. I can
remember sitting at the computer that day and him being like dude, just click
yes and go for it. My first trip was to
Costa Rica. I actually convinced a buddy to come with me and we had a
blast. Now all I look forward to is my
next fix.
So that is my pitch. Now here are some practical notes to
keep in mind while traveling.
Plan – Dates, money, people.
All of these are really important.
While spontaneous travel can be rewarding too, practicality is important
too. Coming up with a budget to work
with will make the trip less stressful and maximize fun!
Likeminded travelers – Just for safety and practical reason,
going on trips with people is always smart.
It’s important thought to pick people that have likeminded people. You are going to be in each other’s lives
twenty-four hours a day. If you like to
site see but travel buddy likes to sleep in – conflict might ensue.
Keep an open mind – Keep in mind that the new place you are
going will have things that you are not used to. Architecture will be different. People will look different. Food will be
different. Different animals might roam
the streets. Traditions, culture, language – all different.
Make a choice – traveling can be a little overwhelming
sometimes. You have hundreds of places
to go, and hundreds of more places to go once you get to where you are
going! When you feel stressed, just make
a choice – flip a coin. Once you
experience what your choice produced – use that information and make an even
better choice next time!
So that’s my list of five things you can do. Perfect way to start out the New Year, right?
Now go plan a trip!
