Radvent day 7: traveling

Scott and I are prone to perpetual wanderlust. This topic is also perfect, especially given the "must travel now" feelings I've been having for ... well, ever, but especially these last few months. Or years. I don't know. It's tough to remember a time when I was ever content staying in one place all the time...

Suffice it to say, today's Radvent challenge makes me very happy to write about. It was nice to go down memory lane for a bit, to the places and times that I believe really made me who I am.

"Have you ever taken a trip that changed your outlook on something, inspired you to consider a new worldview, or helped you fulfill an important goal?"

Oh, am I ever so glad you asked.


The above photo is of me on my very first day on British soil (Trafalger Square in London, to be exact)—December 21st, 2002. I was 20 years old and, aside from a brief excursion to British Columbia my freshman year of high school, had never been to another country. An Anglophile seemingly from birth, this trip was a dream come true for me; it happened fairly suddenly, and it changed my world & life forever.

I will never understand people who don't feel a persistent urge and desire to travel the world. Even before I traveled to London & Amsterdam that winter break, I loved to travel and I knew I wanted to travel extensively. I feel so fortunate to have gone on this trip, and one similar to it the following winter. I never considered myself a person who was "afraid of other cultures" but traveling abroad can test you in ways you never thought about, and so much of the value I've found in world  travel is learning to be confident & unafraid. After all, we're all people, aren't we. What is there to be thrown by?  Embrace it.

Primrose Hill, London - January 2004

Scott is really the world traveler of the two of us, though, having lived in Asia for a year, grown up in part in Micronesia (I know!) and having had many years and opportunities to travel the world in his life. Our international travel experiences together have been brief so far but highly memorable. Our first international trip, to Vancouver & Victoria BC in 2005, was proof of what we already knew: we travel extremely well together, which is absolutely vital in a travel partner. We seem to enjoy all the same things, methods and styles of travel/sightseeing/immersion, and it's really wonderful to have that.  We are great partners in crime.

Burnaby, British Columbia - August 2005

Our second, most recent and decidedly most epic international trip was two years ago, when we took my dear mother-in-law to Rome for 2+ weeks for her 75th birthday. It was an incredible trip. Two weeks is not nearly enough to see Rome. I've now dipped my foot into Italy, another lifelong dream of mine, and Scott and I can't stop talking about when we're going back. I can't believe it's already been more than 2 years since the last time we left American soil. I'm not sure when we'll be able to leave again, but rest assured, we can't wait. We still have so many places left to see together. ♥

Scott in front of the Pantheon, Rome - October 2009

Me in very low light across the street from the Colosseum, Rome - October 2009

Ah, such happy, expansive memories. It really is true that travel changes you. I only hope that we are able to do more of it, together, for the rest of our lives. In our case, travel brings us even closer together, and the feeling of immersing ourselves in another culture together for a period of time is second to none.

What about you? What travel experience changed your life? ☆



If you're interested in participating in Radvent, visit Princess Lasertron!