Why we travel ??? For all you first timers out there!!!!
 

This might help all you first timers get a little more pumped for your trips !
I dunno if this is even the right forum to post this in, but I was sitting on the porch having a smoke and a ponder, lookin at the sea and thinking damn would I love to get out there again and dust off the ol backpack. I mean its been over 2 years since my last excursion, Im gonna get rusty.

Then I started thinking about all the places I havnt been and where I can still go an what I would like to see and do and it kinda hit me like a dump truck!

I was'nt thinking about sites I would like to see or pictures I wanna take, but it came down to experiences I want to re-live and feelings I want to feel again. Dont get me wrong there are some things that you gotta go see when you are somewhere such as the Eiffle Tower in Paris, or Macchu Pichu in Peru.

The reason I like to travel is for the moments that time stands still, when your standing on top of a mountain you spent days climbing only to see a thick morning fog covering the perfect view, and just when your exausted, and angry, and a little dissapointed, A thick beam of sunlight cuts through the fog and it opens up the view that takes your breath away.

Or spending a day dozing away in a hammock swaying to a warm tropical breeze with only the sounds of the surf to snap you out of a dream.

The friends I have made that I have kept in touch with through all these years even though we are so far apart from each other. In fact my best friend in the world I met while overseas.

Of all the years I have spent abroad I remeber the times where things so delightfuly did not go as planned and something magical came out of it. The stories I find myself telling people are of the times I spent dancing like no one knows me (which is generally the case) and those week long romances that make you feel like you have been with that person for ages, or even the friends you make for 24hours that you sit (usually drunk with) and share with each other your deepest feelings and dreams.

I especially love all the jobs I have worked over seas which are phenomial becuase your bosses know you are there to have a good time and not stay for a long time and suddenly you realize wow, i dont get stressed at work anymore!

I go through all my old pictures and Im glad I have seen the things I have seen and done the things I have done, Im realizing that if it came down to it I would give up all the pictures I have taken before giving up the journals I wrote while I was abroad. Thats another thing I cant stress enough, is to keep a journal. Those will keep the pictuers in your mind.

So all you first timers go out there make the world your oyster! Remember its not just about seeing momunments and museums, there is a very definite difference between Travelling and a Vacation. Meet those best friends for 24hrs that you will never speak to again, and find the love of your life that you will share only a short magical time with. Make the world move around your time clock, open your senses and your feelings to everything that places have to offer. Most importantly be yourself becuase if people dont like you then F-them, your never gonna see them again.

Im not gonna lie if you truly open yourself to an adventure its gonna change your life, one way or another you are gonna find things out about yourself and chances are the course of your life is gonna be shifted maybe slightly or maybe very drasticly. For me it was very major. My first trip set of a chain reaction of 5 years spent dedicated not to University but travelling and on one of those travels I have discoverd something that I became obssesed with and decided to change my career path and lifestyle choices to persue it.
So to all you first timers Im jelous of you, because only once can you have your first trip and step through that door to things that are gonna be with you forever. Good luck and have fun :cheers:
wills

What a wonderful post. Carpe Diem. And I too envy those of you planning and experiencing your first trip.:cheers:

Wow. Every once in a while on this site, somebody says something so simple, honest and profound that just takes my breath away. There should be some kind of collection here of the greatest posts.

I'm still planning my first trip, and sometimes like all of us do I lose focus and get caught up in the daily grind. I'm going to print this out and keep in in my journal I think. Thanks Thewills, and everybody else here for that matter. I cant tell you how this site has helped me keep my dreams alive.

Beautiful post Wills, just beautiful. Its funny, I took my backpack out of storage a few days for no reason other than to look at it and remember.
Thanks for this post man, and for reminding me that its been too long since I have hit the road.

Well said, bro! Like you said, the places are great but it's all about the experiences in my book.

Thanks for the great post:cheers:-_-!

Perfect!!!!!!!!! And I am only 5 days from walking out that door and into a new world, and new life. My backpack is ready, the plane ticket bought! Friends and new memories to come!!!! Thanks for the added inspiration!!!!!!-_-

awww, thanks everyone!
I appreciate the positive feedback and Im glad that your all getting stoked!
Its really easy to get into ruts and routines and throw longing looks towards that backpack.
Good luck on your trip Marc, just get yourself pumped up for it, cause you know once those tires leave the runway life is just gonna lift up off your shoulders. Im jelous your going somewhere.
I just hope that everyone gets a little added inspiration and starts thinking "yah I am in a position to go somewher if I really wanted to" and they just make it happen :)

Of all things, this is my favorite: genuinely meeting other human beings, across race, class, nationality, language and realizing -- not just that people are people anywhere -- but realizing that there may be a chance that the core nature of humanity is good, and its those moments that God smiles upon you.

Hey you know what CB
Im very glad you brought that up! I really really am. Thats a very good point! thats for sure one thing I left out and you just hit the nail on thehead!
Travelling totally restores my faith in humanity, I really enjoy going out there and experiencing one of those little moments that makes you take a step back and say wow that is what makes us human. I mean you dont really need to travel to experience that, but when you are in a dirt poor country and someone is willing to bend over backwards to help you out even though they really cant afford to, there is something very moving about that I ifind. It really makes me belive that there is good out there and goodness still counts for something in this world.

I also like the times when I think Im getting scammed or Im gonna get robbed or something and that person(s) turn out to be genuine awesome/helpful people and it just floors me right back into the ground, I generally thank them for helping me in whaever way they have and then also for putting things into perspective and keeping me grounded when I was starting to float away :lol1:

Great post! I just realized at the end of the thread that it's super old but still a great post that makes me want to get out there.