About Traveling.

I realized this week my passport has two stamps.  I had to get a new one two years ago when I went to Australia.  I haven’t travelled much since I got it.  My old passport was filled.  When I graduated high school in 2002 my parents gave me some money they had saved up for me, ‘You can do whatever you want with this money.’  I was 18 and I had never left the country, so I’m not really sure why I wanted to travel, but I did.  Between 18 and 30 I had been to Europe twice, South America, and Central America. I am obsessed with traveling.  When I turned 30 my mom said her and I could take a trip together and asked where I would want to go. ‘South Africa.’  She looked me in the eye. ‘No. Pick again.’  She isn’t as adventurous as I am, ‘Ok, fine.  Australia.’  She agreed, and off we went.

 I’m easy to travel with, but not the best tourist.  I’ve been to Paris twice and have never gone up to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  I would rather sit in the park eating gelato watching parents play with their kids.  I’ll wander down random streets, and into little boutiques and eat food off street vendors.  I’ll be annoyed with long lines and be disinterested in seeing tourist attractions.  I’ll snap a picture of Notre Dame, and then I’ll move on.  In Australia I spent a day in Melbourne walking around taking in street art.  

 I was in Barcelona with Amanda, and the Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia church was too far from where we were staying.  I was not interested in the hassle of going to see it.  Instead we walked into this church that was on the verge of collapse.  It looked unsafe.  ‘Let’s check this out.’  We walked in, and realized they still held regular services.  We lit candles and as we were getting ready to leave noticed a gentleman standing in a corner, as we walked past he asked if we wanted to go to the roof of the church.  We made it to the roof, and there was all of Barcelona.  We were up there, with two other people, and there right in front of us was this beautiful city.  That was one of the best experiences I had in Barcelona. 

 This last week in Cabo, I made all the friends.  I went to the bar by myself, and as I scanned the crowd I noticed these two girls.  They looked like the type of girls I would be friends with.  I went up to them, and introduced myself… my desperate plea… be friends with me I think we’ll get along.  I was right. The last day they were there I ran into them at breakfast.  We talked about the last two nights we spent together, about them coming to Chicago and me coming to Dallas.  I have no boundaries when it comes to people.  I will walk right up to you in a different country and I will try to convince you I’m not a creep.  I want to be friends. 

 I love traveling.  I want to see the world.  I want to experience it.  In the movie ‘Lost in Translation,’ there’s a line toward the end, and Scarlet Johansson’s says, ‘Let’s never come here again because it could never be as much fun.’  That’s what traveling is for me, about those experiences you share with someone else.  They cannot be replicated.  I’m sure I’ve made myself sound super appealing to travel with, but if you want to sit in parks, and venture off the beaten path, and meet random people that I’ll try to convince to be friends with me than you should reach out.  I need a travel buddy…  Asia and Africa are on my to do list.