5 Reasons We Choose Travel
Some will say it's because we are millennials. Some will say it's because we hate our life and we are trying to get away. Some say we just wish we had a luxurious lifestyle. Some people think we are just plain crazy, like mental or something (that one is our personal favorite). Lets get this straight, NONE OF THOSE REASONS ARE TRUE. We freaking love our lives. We have a lot of old fashion mindsets as well as some millennial mindsets, so I don't think we really categorize ourselves in any era. What we can say though is that we value experiences so much more then material crap (even though some "crap" is cool, lol). There are so many reasons we value travel and we are not here to explain ourselves or convince you to be like us, we are here to tell the so called, "crazy" people, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
There are 5 reasons we choose travel over everything else.
1) We learn so much about ourselves and each other as a couple
It's easy to get on a routine when you are home. One of the most challenging things while being home is finding a balance of pleasure and responsibilities. When you are home and anything like us, you are just GO GO GO. After the day is over, you realize you did nothing you wanted to do but everything society told you to do. When you travel, you are almost forced to stop and realize what you WANT to do, what actually excites you. When we travel, all of our creativity and true colors start flowing and its almost an addicting feeling of seeing not only yourself so passionate, but also the person you travel with. You have to really trust yourself and your gut feelings as well as your partners.
2) Life is too short
Growing up, you are taught to go to school, get a degree, get a job, get married and have kids, retire and then what? Im sorry, all those things are wonderful and we both want those things too, but tomorrow is not guaranteed. For us, that's enough fire under our butts to do what we want to do. The last couple of years we have lost a lot of close family members and friends. It's crazy how some were unpredictable and some were not but either way, I can guarantee you that they had no clue that it would be their last day. Life is too short to not do what you love. For some that might be watching their kids grow up and for some it might be the materialistic things! No judgement! We just LOVE adventuring. It gives us a high, It makes us feel small and like there is something bigger then ourself out there. Too many of us are living life day to day, going through the motions without truly enjoying the short life that we will have on this earth.
3) To be more open minded
Being from a more fortunate country where things are easily accessible and at the tips of our fingers, it is easy to forget about the rest of the world. It's easy to be so incredible busy where you just want to keep your head down. We are guilty of this way too often too. BUT there is an entire world sleeping, eating, driving, walking, struggling, crying, laughing, etc. It never stops. When we travel and truly immerse ourself in the area we are in, it's hard not to open your eyes and see the beauty every different culture has. I can't tell you how real culture shock is. But for us, we view culture shock as a positive, not negative like most would. It's exciting for us to be learning something different and outside a four walled classroom. We feel our mind and hearts growing when we meet people with different views then us. Having different views and beliefs have been portrayed as a negative thing but why does it have to be that way? We learned so quick that the word "fortunate" means something different to everyone and becoming more open minded has helped us mature and have more compassion for people.
4) To see the most amazing creations of our world
Again, we might all have different beliefs and I respect that. My belief is that God created this earth and all it's amazing natural wonders. Traveling is how we sit in awe of his amazing work. The fact that no one in a single lifetime can see all of these amazing creations is sad but also exciting that someone will always be discovering something new. Traveling is also for our pleasure of appreciating the life we were given and really taking advantage of seeing everything we can in our lifetimes. For some traveling might mean growing closer to the universe or the different beliefs they may have. Either way, we can all agree that at one point in our life we will stop in our tracks, and look out at something naturally made and be in awe.
5) Memories are irreplaceable
Exactly like it says, memories are irreplaceable. So many of us base our happiness on materialistic items. That may not necessarily be a bad thing, however, all those things you might buy with money can vanish in an instant. Living in California is such a blessing for us, however, basing your happiness on materialistic items can be so scary and hits so close to home, especially after a natural disaster occurs. We see this happen almost every year. Fires, earthquakes, and floods can destroy everything you worked so hard for in an instant. I'm not saying living where we do makes us not want to buy anything, or should it stop you from buying anything if natural disasters happen in your area. All I am saying is that it has opened our eyes to what happiness should be based on and what the true value of money should lie. For us, we found our value of money in memories. Whether it be a weekend trip or a 3 month backpacking trip, those memories will stay with us forever.