Someone once told me that our generation should invest more of our money into experiences and less of it into things, and I couldn’t agree more – especially when it comes to seeing the world.
I’m not really sure when I got the desire to travel everywhere, but it probably had something to do with me growing up in a town the size of a freckle. I spent most of my days bored, wanting more to do and, in general, thinking “there must be more than this provincial life.”
I’ve been to a couple of different cities in my life, but my bucket list of places I want to travel is at least a mile long – or a little more than a kilometer and a half, depending on where you live.
Just last summer, I traveled out of the country for the first time to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life, for more reasons than one. My next international adventure will probably a bit less extravagant; I’ll probably just go to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
Anyway, the main reason I’m discussing all of this is because just this past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to New York City for a day on a trip sponsored by the Activities Programming Board. I spent the whole day with a friend of mine who graduated last semester and I had so much fun I didn’t want to leave at the end of the night.
While I definitely want to go back to New York City, because I only saw a small portion of it, it reminded me of how much I love to travel, get out of my own neck of the woods and explore new places.
Plus, seeing one of your good friends definitely provides a major incentive, not to mention potentially free lodging.
The biggest problem I’ve always found with traveling is being able to pay for it. I guess since I never really worried about paying for trips in the past, I never learned how to budget my money so that I could travel more, but over the past year, after learning how much of a thrill I get from visiting new places, I’d like to make it a priority.
The nice thing about being young is that I still have time to avoid settling down for a little bit and be just a little selfish. Being able to visit new places, learn about the history and to immerse myself completely in the culture makes me ridiculously happy.
I just wish I could find a way to do it and get paid for it. But for now, I’ll have to settle for making a budget since there’s no such thing as a professional tourist.
Take advantage of the trips that Gannon groups offer. They say when you’re in college, you have the most chances to travel, so don’t let those trips slip away from you if you can help it.
I encourage everyone who reads this to take the opportunity to travel somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, whether you’re 18 or 118. You’ll get so much out of it and it will definitely be worth the price you pay.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
