I make no secret of my love affair with travel. It’s the thing that invigorates me, inspires me, sates the wonder I carry with me. It’s the thing I crave, crush on and chase after whether I intended to or not. It’s the thing that either makes people think I’m absolutely crazy or makes them low-key hate me for going places they haven’t.
Either way, it matters not. Travel is about the relationship you want to have with the world.
So, on days when love is top of mind, my shout out goes to travel. For being my forever boo. Here, my ode to travel, for all the things I love about it…
How you open my eyes to things I would never have dreamed of seeing. Like the majesty of Machu Picchu, the glittering bioluminescence of a bay in Puerto Rico, the grandeur of the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
How you remind me of what beauty means. The way the man in Ethiopia carves the wooden masks for his craft. The way indigenous mothers in Ecuador carry their ruddy-cheeked children. The way lovers in Paris meet after work to open a bottle of wine and break bread by the Seine.
How you make me feel more alive than I ever have. Like when the breeze whips my hair when I glide over the bluest Bermuda Triangle waters on a jet ski. Or when I float over the jungle on a zip line in Belize half fearing for my life but half relishing the view those that fly get to enjoy. Or when I dive beneath the ocean to discover life-sized works of art submerged in Grenada.
How you carry me when I need inspiration. Because how can the unreal beauty of the curving canals of Venice or the imposing presence of the Grand Canyon or the unassumingly luxe banana plantations in St. Lucia not reinvigorate my spirit and remind me that beauty is everywhere, whether it feels that way or not?
How you teach me some of life’s most important lessons. Like how rich it feels to recognize newness of culture, how necessary it is to recognize struggle and appreciate freedom, how human it is to live and love, no matter the manner in which you do it.
How you show me that travel, like love, has so many levels. And what a great gift it is to have a chance to feel them, experience them, relish them.