Be a Traveller

There are two kinds of people in this world: Travellers and Non-Travellers. 

I'm beginning to think I was switched at birth as I was a born Traveller.  I will do what it takes to live out the rest of my days seeing places the majority of people only dream of - even if it means never seeing my loved ones again (don't get me wrong - I love my fam dearly, but I know what they look like and I have never seen the glorious peaks of Machu Pichu).  My family, on the other hand, are pretty much content with the comforts and familiarity of home.  Yes, they'll go on vacations - comfortable vacations - but my mom and big sis only applied for their passports because of me, not because they wanted to see the world. 

A few years back while I was living in England, my mom, grams and sis came to visit me (which turned into one of the most horrible holidays ever, but that's another story).  On this holiday, we drove from London to York to the Lake District and back to London.  Much to my demise, my sister proclaimed her disappointment at not driving through suburbs rather than the beautiful British countryside...WTF?!

I've been trying to convince my sister to come to Thailand since before I left for Thailand.  For the most part, I'm pretty sure I'm just wasting my breath.  Coming to a humid country (God forbid her hair will frizz out to the point that it becomes the size of Amy Winehouse's beehive 'do) with cockroaches, dirty streets, food cooked on those dirty streets (albeit delicious!), giant spiders, noise of tuk tuks and motorbikes, constant cries for 'massaaaage', etc, just isn't who she is.  Where she would see discomfort, pests, and allover 'grossness', I see culture, diversity, excitement and adventure!

I am a Traveller and travellers sacrifice a lot for their passion - comfort, money, love, familiarity of the goodnesses of home.  There are times more often than not that I would love to curl up in a Lay-Z-Boy instead of chilling on my hard, plastic-covered, spring-poking bed.  Or times that I sit and wonder if I didn't spend my years living in and discovering new countries if I would be like everyone else - married, with a career, a mortgage, maybe a couple mini-me's running around.  However, in return for the sacrifice, I've discovered a wealth of knowledge, culture, self-assurance and adventure that makes the sacrifice well worth it, 100 times over. 

The dude that inspires me to keep on travellin' (and gave me the momemtum I needed to see through this current expidition) said "Adventure rewrites the routine of our lives and wakes us sharply from the comforts of the familiar.  It allows us to see how vast the expanse of our experiences can actually be.  Our ability to grow is no longer linear but becomes unrestricted to any direction we wish to run."  Josh Gates knows what he's talking about.  Other Travellers knows what Josh Gates is talking about.  I have not, and will never, let comfort and familiarity restrict me.  This in and of itself sets me apart from my family. 

I urge anyone reading this to break out of your comfort zone!  Be a Traveller!  You never know what you will find waiting for you around the bend :)

Happy Trails,
LG