FAQ Series #1: Why do you travel that much?

I really wanted to write this post since a good while, but something was always holding me to do it. I didn't want to explain myself on this topic, I think it's something of the easiest things to experience in life, but since I have a lot of people questioning about it, here I am.

The question "Why do you travel that much" or "What? You're going again?" pops up a lot in my own environment, between some positively amazed statements, of course. It's a question that's hard and easy to explain at the same time. I didn't really choose to make travelling one of my hobbies, I wished I could have a less expensive and easier managable passion sometimes, like gardening or something.

I went out for travelling outside of Switzerland and Italy, my home country, in 2006 for the first time. I didn't really have a good summer vacation, so I decided to book an autumn trip to Greece with two good friends of mine. After I landed and drove to my hotel by bus, passing all these cute white buildings facing the very blue mediterranean sea, there was just something that came up in my head: "Damn, there is a lot of beautiful stuff to discover out in this world and I had no clue!". That's how everything basically started. That's how I figured out that I really enjoy reading about different cultures and love sightseeings. That's how I realised that I wanted more every time my feet hit the Swiss ground going back home.

I think you could maybe compare it to someone who madly loves seeing soccer games live: you travel to them as much as you can. Or somebody who gets tattooed for the first time and finds his or herself fully covered a couple of years later because of wanting more ink. Totally fine for me. I feel fully judged sometimes, like travel could be one of the biggest crimes. You really don't need to understand. I don't wander around asking people why they're going out for jogging every second day. Or why they're going out clubbing three times a week. I don't even do the opposite: by asking people "Why are you working your ass off the whole year and just go on vacation one week a year outside of the country?". It's not my business. I guess it's because they love it, right? So am I feeling about travelling.

I love it. Like I love a couple of other things I got addicted of. Some places turned out to be a habit for me, because I feel good there, it feels like home. The new places I visit are always combined with excitement because you'll never know what to expect, like how you wouldn't know how you'll react by doing skydiving for the first time.

It makes me feel good, and it gets even better knowing that I can go out to some places and visit some amazing people I met years before. It makes me happy. I totally get dosed by the feeling of packing my bags, to inform myself how to move around, just to go. And no, it's not escaping, at least, not anymore. It's opening my mind, getting to my limits, I get to know myself better after every destination. You'll learn to deal with different people, cultures and to respect them even if you don't fully get why some things are so logical for them. There's no better school than travelling. So, instead to ask me the above mentioned question, topic of this post, you really should get yourself a ticket and go. You'll might understand. Because

"Not all who wander are lost".

 

 

Photo taken in Auckland, New Zealand, by Paulo Zenz