I have had people ask me why I spent all my money on travel ( and clothes lets be fair) instead of saving up a bit and not having to worry about money all the time. It always gets to me, because I always wonder if these people understand what they are missing out on. Traveling is a pretty recent addition to my life, don’t get me wrong I always loved going on vacation, but that longing to discover every little corner of the world has only been around for three years. I took my first trip alone with a friend when I just graduated from high school and that freedom, I experienced was overwhelming. The happiness I received from adventuring and exploring became far more worth to me than any form of financial security and in this blog post, I want to try to explain to you why.
1. New Experiences
This one is pretty obvious. I get bored pretty easily. If I have the same kind of routine for a while, I get that travel itch again. I love discovering Brussels bust there is only so much you can do before it gets old. So, I love to take up some extra shifts once in a while and book a random trip. It does not have to be long, just enough to get me out of my daily routine and get me inspired again.
2. Getting outside your bubble
Going along with new experiences is exploring everything the world has to offer. It may seem like we see a lot of the world, and we know a lot about other cultures through social media, TV, books, and stories told by friends and family, but there is only so much you can get across to somebody who has not experienced it himself.
In our daily lives we only experience a small part of this beautiful planet and maybe we enjoy that live a lot. However, you may know the quote: “Your life is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” I do not fully agree with this because I believe that there are as many other things to discover in life that do not relate to travel at all, but I do believe there is some truth in this overshared Pinterest quote. My take on it is that the more you travel, the more you learn about the world, the more books you get to read. Every new experience is one you learn from. It may change you, it may not. But you will carry it with you forever. In my journey to self-development, I believe that the more books I have to read, the happier and more educated I will be.
3. The Food
I love to eat. I would probably be a lot more summer body ready if I would care a little less about all the good food in the world. Who knows maybe one day I will get bored with trying new things and I can finally feel confident when I try to take beach pictures?
But for now, back to the food. I am quite the picky eater but that does not stop me from trying local foods. One of my favorite things to do when we arrive in a new country is to go to a local supermarket and just buy all the things that look good. Some may be horrible, others may blow your mind. Be open to it and you will never know what ends up in your suitcase to take home.
I have discovered that Romania does the best cinnamon cookies, Croatia does bread really well, lloa lloa has the best frozen yogurt I have ever tasted, Poland has these bagel-like bread things that are perfect for a cheap breakfast! The Polish opened my eyes to ricotta on pizza, I ate real authentic pizza in Naples and ate the best Italian gelato in Florence…
I could go on for hours here, but I don’t want to make you too hungry.
The last point I would like to make is that you don’t have to limit yourself to the local cuisine. Follow your cravings and discover local places that make your favorite foods. As an example: The best pancakes I ever ate were at Mr. Pancake in Warsaw.
4. To create
I love photography, recently found a love for videography and traveling also fuels my writing and drawing. New places are new opportunities to make art. You only see a place for the first time once and the look of a first timer is always purer and more excited. I appreciate my surroundings so much more since I started photography. It taught me to pay attention to the details of daily life, the beauty in ordinary or even broken things, I notice beautiful lighting and I long to discover all those things in new places all the time.
In the beginning, I created because I traveled, now, however, I travel because I want to create. I choose beautiful places to travel to, just to shoot.
5. To relax
Life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it. We are all so caught up in the daily chores of our lives. Going to school/work, cooking, cleaning, working some more, and sleeping. Oh, and If you are like me put a blog and a YouTube channel on top of that and it can all get a little too much sometimes. I try to balance school, work, YouTube and social life. It is pretty hard sometimes and especially during our exam period I get really stressed out. So, after our exams, I always book myself a trip to relax again. This does not have to be a lazy laying on the beach vacation, just some time where I can do what I want, whenever I want. I love a good vacation to a warm destination and chilling on the beach, but I cannot sit still for too long. But hiking, shopping, swimming, wandering around a city and visiting museums are also a form of relaxation for me.
I hope this gave you some insight into my reason why I would rather have an empty bank account then opt for traveling less. I don’t want to promote being financially irresponsible, but I also believe we have limited time and we might as well enjoy it. As long as I don’t have to be responsible for anybody and I can pay my rent I think I am good for now. I want to travel now while I am young and things like an emergency fund will be problems for later.
