Five Reasons Why I Travel

Two street signs/icons intersect in Montgomery, Alabama (Scarborough photo)

I’ve been tagged by Jas at Through the Lenses to follow up her post on the topic of “Five Reasons Why I Travel.” 

“Tagging” other writers with a topic is a fun bloggy game, sort of like a chain letter but not nearly as annoying.  By the way, if you want good info on Thailand, check out Jas and her site.

Here goes:

1)  I like to scare myself.   Travel to new places is scary at some level, because you’re out of your element and out of your comfort zone.  I like to be brave, and one way to be brave is to train yourself to face the things you fear.  You can train yourself by going ahead and doing the things you’re afraid of, like getting out of your comfort zone.  I’ve been in so many strange places and felt weird so many times that now, I feel pretty comfortable just about anywhere. 

2)  I’m bored easily.  I want to know what’s over the next hill.  I want to see what’s new.  Don’t show me the money; show me something I haven’t seen already.

3)  I’m a know-it-all.  Since I want to know everything, I’m constantly reading, researching and learning.  The best way to learn about something is to surround yourself with it, so I travel to immerse myself in the knowledge of other cultures and people.  I sometimes say, “I don’t know much about XYZ topic, so I don’t have an opinion about it.”  Since I’m very opinionated, I can’t stand not knowing enough about something so that I can form an opinion. 🙂

4)  I’m a history buff.  I’ll read good history books all day, but I’d rather stand in the midst of a place where history happened, so I can really soak it in.  Do you know why it was specifically the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church that was so involved in civil rights in Alabama?  I can tell you. I’ve been to Montgomery, Alabama and stood in front of that church, and I saw that it is just a stone’s throw from the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, where Governor George Wallace shouted, “Segregation forever!”  Location, location — and the church’s dynamic young pastor, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  I would not have such a visceral understanding if I had not personally traveled to that spot.

5)  I’m a culture vulture.  My house is stuffed with music, books, doo-dads and even food from my travels.  Why did I lug home a bamboo tingklik musical instrument from Bali?  Excellent question.  All I can tell you is that I smile when I tap it with its little mallet, and hear a sound that takes me back to my short visit to that magical island.  

Travel just makes me happy.  How about you?

Technorati tags: travel, family travel