WHY I LOVE TO TRAVEL

Growing up in NYC, I was surrounded often by children like me who were exposed to a cultural mixing pot at a young age. I was no stranger to this:: my mom is from India, born and raised in a city and culture that could not be more different than the one I know.. With frequent trips and summers spent in India, I developed a knack for traveling at a young age. I always knew I wanted to live and explore the world as much as I could.

Now, as an adult, I’ve taken full advantage of the opportunity to travel, visiting destinations as far as South Africa and Dubai, to ones closer to home, like Montreal, New Orleans and Seattle. There’s so much to see in this world, musings I often talk (and write) about. For this post, I wanted to write about my love of travel: what inspires me to go, what keeps me going, and what I learn from each of the experiences I’ve been so grateful to have had.

CULTURE

Without a doubt, culture and the opportunity to experience different traditions, food, customs and more is the number one reason why I love to travel (and likely other people’s as well). With so many different people in the world, and the ways in which technology has transformed how we share with one another, its fascinating that we as a people can learn from one another simply from our own couch. However, the more powerful experiences will always happen IRL. Nothing beats firsthand experience, at all.

KNOWLEDGE

With each new destination I visit, the education and possibility of learning excites me. Sure, museums and various cultural institutions allow for a certain percentage of understanding, but more often than not, knowledge is informed from the people itself, found when you make friends with a local or stranger, or someone familiar with the lay of the land. These have always been the best trips, and the ones that really allow for a deeper understanding.

NEWNESS

This might be a weird category, but as someone who grew up in NYC knows, the city itself can get quite tiring, especially if you’ve spent your life in one place (i mean, isn’t this why everyone leaves their hometown for New York anyway??) I digress, but the point is: I get tired of the same old routine. I get tired of the same places I know, and walking the same streets, taking the same damn trains. I want something new! This is also my reason for moving abroad, or moving somewhere else (which will hopefully happen soon!) . I want a challenge, and a chance to experience the first two reasons of why I love traveling (culture and knowledge, duh!) for without them, I feel we become complacent in our routines and everyday struggles. Why not get out and see the world? What do you really have to lose??

Travel Narrative