Travel Bug
So yeah, I went to Hawaii.
I haven't been the same since. Literally. I wake up to the sound of my phone's alarm and can't understand what this weird gadget is. I can't tell the time and that I need to get out of bed. My hand randomly made a gesture as though to feel the ocean water while I was driving home the other day. I'm having weird dreams. I'm changed.
Oh la la... what a nice place I went to. And because the visit was so short (due to my one week March break and my desperate need to get out of this city), it makes it feel like even more of a dream than it did while I was there.
I realized quite quickly that I am absolutely in love with the unfamiliar. This is progress, as the unfamiliar has created great anxiety for me in the past. I'm not someone who has traveled the world, though I should be, probably based on my personality, but going to Oahu made me realize how much more of the world I want to see. And not necessarily to see great things, but to feel new, almost born again, in a new place.
What I love most about travel is that exact sense... Being brand new in an unfamiliar place. No baggage, other than what I brought with me on the plane, and that's where it ends. That curious, childlike sense of wonder takes over, and it's so damn refreshing.
An escape, an adventure, a place for self-discovery, man it's allllll gooooood.
Travelling alone has its downsides, especially being surrounded by newlyweds in Hawaii. But it's all part of the experience, I tell you. And more than anything, travelling alone is super awesome. People you meet want to hear your story, what brought you to such a faraway place, and are keen to show you what's really great about the place you're in. Mind you, I was in Hawaii, so as far as I was concerned, everything was great, but it got much greater by being open.
Being able to visit the shrine amongst the urns in the Byodo-In Temple, hearing about the gallery owner's dreams to visit France, having a private tour of a museum.. it was a joy. I even got the Triple A special at Germaine's Luau because the counter-girl couldn't stand to charge me full-price. And I'm grateful for that.
I can't say what it would be like to travel alone to the places I want to visit like Thailand and South America, but this was a good start. I'm no Elizabeth Gilbert, but I like what I do and I like what I write so I don't doubt it'll bring me somewhere great at some point in my life.
Admittedly, I sure as hell don't want to travel alone forever, but I'm proud to feel independent enough to do so.
To all you lone-travellers out there, I tip my beanie to you, kudos for going for it.
I got the travel bug,
Katie
I haven't been the same since. Literally. I wake up to the sound of my phone's alarm and can't understand what this weird gadget is. I can't tell the time and that I need to get out of bed. My hand randomly made a gesture as though to feel the ocean water while I was driving home the other day. I'm having weird dreams. I'm changed.
Oh la la... what a nice place I went to. And because the visit was so short (due to my one week March break and my desperate need to get out of this city), it makes it feel like even more of a dream than it did while I was there.
I realized quite quickly that I am absolutely in love with the unfamiliar. This is progress, as the unfamiliar has created great anxiety for me in the past. I'm not someone who has traveled the world, though I should be, probably based on my personality, but going to Oahu made me realize how much more of the world I want to see. And not necessarily to see great things, but to feel new, almost born again, in a new place.
What I love most about travel is that exact sense... Being brand new in an unfamiliar place. No baggage, other than what I brought with me on the plane, and that's where it ends. That curious, childlike sense of wonder takes over, and it's so damn refreshing.
An escape, an adventure, a place for self-discovery, man it's allllll gooooood.
Travelling alone has its downsides, especially being surrounded by newlyweds in Hawaii. But it's all part of the experience, I tell you. And more than anything, travelling alone is super awesome. People you meet want to hear your story, what brought you to such a faraway place, and are keen to show you what's really great about the place you're in. Mind you, I was in Hawaii, so as far as I was concerned, everything was great, but it got much greater by being open.
Being able to visit the shrine amongst the urns in the Byodo-In Temple, hearing about the gallery owner's dreams to visit France, having a private tour of a museum.. it was a joy. I even got the Triple A special at Germaine's Luau because the counter-girl couldn't stand to charge me full-price. And I'm grateful for that.
I can't say what it would be like to travel alone to the places I want to visit like Thailand and South America, but this was a good start. I'm no Elizabeth Gilbert, but I like what I do and I like what I write so I don't doubt it'll bring me somewhere great at some point in my life.
Admittedly, I sure as hell don't want to travel alone forever, but I'm proud to feel independent enough to do so.
To all you lone-travellers out there, I tip my beanie to you, kudos for going for it.
I got the travel bug,
Katie
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