“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”
― Anita Desai
Traveling has always been a part of my DNA. There is truth when they say that history tends to repeat itself. My grandfather ran away from Yemen when he was merely 17 to see the world. And although I haven’t had the chance to meet him as he passed away before I was born, that yearning to see the world travels through my veins.
I used to remember when I was barely 5, I would take my mom’s jade bracelet and peer through it and would see foreign places. I could swear until now, that those visions I see of places I’ve never been to were real. Or maybe, even as a child I already have an overly active imagination.
Now, in my 30s, while spending my time post-COVID-19 lockdown in the South of France – I ponder on the reasons why chasing that proverbial sunset has always been a need. With 50 countries visited and more than 200 destinations of travel mileage, these are the reasons why I will always keep on traveling.
1. The Anticipation
That flutter in my belly when I think of where I will go, what I will do. The sheer excitement when am doing my never-ending spreadsheets. Yes, I like to plan everything to the last detail on how/what/where/when I will spend my traveling time. Chalk it up to wanting to control things, but in all honesty – if I don’t plan, I end up sleeping the day away. I also plan, what will I wear on each particular day – with a backup ensemble just in case.
I sometimes get carried away by thinking of life-like scenarios that run through my brain on what could happen which always increases that anticipation. Yes, eager beaver much would be the phrase that someone used on me. I can’t fault them, they got me to a T with that line.
Whether I am traveling for the weekend, 2 weeks, a month, or even when I started planning this year-long career break – it’s always the same.
Anticipation makes everything sweeter.
2. The Comparison
I think one of the things we can agree on is sometimes we can have some sort of pre-conceived idea of what a certain destination would be. It might come from phrases in books we’ve read or other’s experiences detailed on TripAdvisor – we always have somehow a vague picture of how a place would look or feel.
Well, until we get there.
Then the comparison begins.
Like how in my head Paris is this ultra-chic place where all women wear only black smocks with high heels and dining can only be enjoyed in luxury.
Well, the reality was quite different. They wear all sorts of colors and ballerina shoes. Plus, I believe one of the highlights when I was studying there as an artist – was grabbing a 5-euro cheese crepe by Notre Dame and sitting by the sidewalk for lunch. Then, heading up to my favorite park and sleeping under a tree. Ah, the joys of being carefree when age hasn’t sneaked up on you yet.
Or London. With an image of a bright red double-decker running around town and street names jumping out of a Monopoly Board. I have always imagined it to be a 24-hour circus-like sunshine city. And that there will be afternoon tea areas in each corner. Kinda like Starbucks but served by someone with a crisp accent and tea instead of a latte.
Except in reality – it rains all the time. People wearing all black with austere faces are jammed into those trains that forever talk about "minding the gap". Oh, and there are more falafel shops than places offering afternoon teas. Nevertheless, I still love it though.
One might say that when you start that comparison process between your expectation to reality, you’ll end up disappointed somehow. But in traveling, you never do. Instead, you’ll always end up discovering something new.
3. The Newness
If only I can bottle the rush that I feel when I step out and into a new destination, I’d be richer than Bezos. Or not.
I spent a lot of my traveling days with my sister – and I remember the first time I stepped out of San Francisco. She looked at me and said – “oh my God, your face”. Apparently, my face was filled with wonder like a little kid who has eaten chocolate for the first time.
No wonder, in New York – which by the way I listed as one of my most friendly places visited. I was kindly taken aside and “briefed” by locals to look and act like I belonged. I disagree with that Meg Ryan film – City of Angels should have been in the Big Apple.
4. The History
Standing with my group of friends shivering at barely eight in the morning at the exact place where Hitler finally committed suicide at the end of WW2? Trying to reach as high as I can so I would not look like a midget underneath the massive Stonehenge? Scrubbing my hands in the walls of the Tower of London while listening to the Beefeater talk about Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn?
Looking around Hagia Sophia and trying to decipher in its architecture which was brought by Christianity or Islam to the once-church-turned-mosque-turned museum in the heart of Istanbul? Or waking up in a little village that was once ravaged by a plague in the medieval age?
These are just some of those moments that traveling has made me appreciate history so much more.
I love to read. Mainly because it takes me to places I’ve never been to. But actually standing in those places that you’ve only once read. Places that have witnessed moments that shaped the world into what it is now – it’s truly humbling. Just merely standing there gives you somewhat a glimpse of the past and see the world differently.
5. The Culture
I guess it’s the knowledge that you are there only for a limited time. So, in that short period, you try to take in everything. The food, the language, the architecture, and the local’s practices. You witness it, yes. However, in experiencing it no matter how briefly, makes you somehow a part of it.
From traveling, now I can actually attest. That yes – Italian guys really run after single female tourists. That most Parisians would flock either by the Seine or by the Luxembourg Garden when the sun is out. That pan-fried breaded cheese is the best comfort meal you can have on a chilly night in Prague. That the best street food I have eaten is some random grilled tofu in the streets of Lijiang. That it’s mostly tourists and not locals who crowd those infamous “coffee” shops in Amsterdam.
And that the chance of you getting run over by bicycles is a hundred times higher than a car. That some 80-year-old woman can outclimb me in some hundred-step stairs in a Tibetan monastery because, apparently, they do it every day. That the best greek salad I have tasted is in yes, you guessed it right – in Greece. That buying produce in the French Riviera is one of the greatest things I have ever appreciated and tasted. Or that during the holiday season, people in San Diego sit by the waters to watch a Christmas parade of boats. And that they wish each other happy holidays by screaming these wishes from the coastline.
Still, no matter how the architecture changes or the sound of chatter differs, there will always be something that binds us.
Everywhere, people meet around to appreciate food and drinks. People smile when you smile at them. People will always try to engage in a conversation no matter how comical the process of the exchange is should you not know their language. Because at the end of the day, anywhere you go – people will always want to connect.
6. The Landscape
It never fails to amaze me how the landscape changes the moment you move from one country to another. Whether you are traipsing from the gentle rolling hills of England to the sudden stark craggy mountains of Scotland. Or from the breathtaking coasts of Croatia to the enchanting greens of Slovenia.
The reasoning behind it, I don’t know. Whether boundaries were made from specific natural elements or that the surrounding environment has somehow evolved because of the local’s practices.
Still – it is a sight to see. I remember after leaving Russia by land, I started noticing new trees that were only abundant the moment you enter Finland.
The wonders of nature. And of men.
7. The Change it Brings
No matter how long or how far, traveling always takes you somewhere. Not just to a foreign place, or to a stranger’s face, or to a time in history but also to a state of mind.
It changes you.
If you were traveling with someone – the experiences you have shared with that person will bind you for years. If you were traveling alone – you learn that introspection in solitude is one of the most powerful gifts to yourself.
It is true what they say – traveling does broaden one’s horizon. It’s like a shoe, it expands. The way we look at the world, the way we think, the way we speak, and even how we accept things. And just like an old shoe – after traveling, it will never fit you.
We are no longer stuck in that box in which we once believe how things should be. Because in other parts of the world – how “things should be” might be the complete opposite, or sometimes does not even exist.
In traveling, I learned to be less rigid and more tolerant. Less judgmental and more accepting. Less scared and more open to possibilities. Less about me and more about everything that surrounds me. Because when you travel, things to be grateful for are in abundance. The stories behind those photographs will make you chuckle and smile years after they happened. All these memories will last for a lifetime.
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