My first big, international travel experience was when I was 22 years old. After finishing college, I packed up my bags and spent several months traveling in Central America. In retrospect, I was wildly unprepared and naïve. But, I was also young and had little to lose. Everything was new and exciting. I visited new places, experienced different cultures and made new friends while being spontaneous and adventurous.
As I progressed through life, completing graduate school and establishing a professional career, I continued to travel. But it was a different style of traveling. It leaned toward a shorter, faster, “bang for your buck” kind of travel that people in the “real world” do to experience as much as possible before returning to work and responsibilities at home. The kind of travel that leaves one recharged, but only scratches the surface of a culture and doesn’t allow for immersion. Despite our best efforts, we were doing a variation of this travel.
Part of my inspiration for taking this gap year was a desire to get reacquainted with the old version of myself. However, the reality was that I also had to grieve the loss of many aspects of my former traveling self (for now). Traveling with more stuff, with another person, and having a dog in tow changes the experience. Perhaps not for better or worse, but different. Part of my journey has been learning to be thankful for the traveler I previously was and simultaneously learning to love the traveler I am today.
Read my other travel lessons here.
