Travel is…

What is travel to you? Is it a luxury? Is it a way to escape? Is it a search for oneself? Is it essential to your existence?

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

Mark Twain

My family moved to Israel when I was 9 years old but that was not my first introduction to travel as a child. I remember traveling to California for Disneyland and up through to San Francisco and Monterey. I, of course, being a chocolate fiend at only about 4-5 years old, I NEEDED to see where they make chocolate; The Ghirardelli Chocolate factory.

I remember getting on the trolley in San Francisco and feeling the exhilaration and freedom of it. I also remember the security of my father’s arms around me as he made sure I didn’t fall off leaning too far over the side as my adrenaline junkie ways were already starting to develop in me even at such a young age.

I remember taking trips to New Orleans with my family and to Texas and Oklahoma. I remember watching my parents go on international trips, while my sister and I would go off to camp or to stay with relatives.

You see, travel & adventure were always a part of my life and was ingrained in me from a very young age. I grew up longing for the next plane ride to some mysterious land. Travel is a part of who I am at the deepest core of my very being. It’s not just a luxury or a vacation (although I’m not opposed to treating some trips as such).

Travel is my way of seeing life through the eyes of every single person I meet. I experience their life and culture and their history and their cuisine. I want to understand them as best as I can as a white female from the western world. I want to look past my privilege and really see the world for what it is and not what the media, the government or even my fellow peers tell me it is. It is essential to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone. It is crucial we learn to look beyond ourselves and what we think we understand of this world.