Travel Dreams

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” -St. Augustine

If you know me, you know I like to travel. A few people accused me of coming to South Asia because it would be another travel adventure. I promise this hasn't been a vacation for Jesus.

During my freshman year of college, I wrote a list of places I wanted to visit before I graduated. I was able to check off over half of them. I checked all of the ones in Europe off; it was the places in America I didn't make it to. I've been to more countries than states. My first time to Tennessee was last year.

When I graduated, I wrote a list of places to visit before I turned 25. It's looking like I need to bump that back b/c that's how old I'll be when I return. Now it's more like before I turn 30. Uhh...I don't like how that sounds.
Anyways, I'm going to share my list with you guys. This isn't my before I die list. That one is really long.

U.S.:
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
The Grand Canyon, Arizona
San Francisco, CA

South America:
Machu Picchu, Peru
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Asia:
Mt. Everest, Nepal
The Great Wall of China

Africa:
Cape Town, South Africa
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania*

I'm in the wrong profession. Sometimes I forget that you need money in order to travel. Where have you always dreamed of going? I doubt I'm the only one that has travel dreams. What or who's holding you back? If it's money; stop eating at McDonalds everyday and Outback every weekend. That way it's better for your body and wallet. I promise it will be cheaper to go now than in 1o years. No matter who you are if you need a travel buddy, call me. I promise it won't take much begging.

Mark Twain was on to something when he stated,
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

I've learned more about life through traveling and hanging out with people unlike me than I did in my four years of college or any book I've read. When I throw around the term travel, I'm not talking about a vacation in a resort w/ walls around it. I've done that before and loved it also. I'm talking about submersion into unknown places. Once you're surrounded by the unfamiliar, you're forced to learn. You examine everything: your friends, your morals, your faith, your existence. Scripture even looks different. You begin to read it with different eyes, and it speaks in new ways.

I agree with this cat more than Mark Twain or St. Augustine.

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”

-Lin Yutang