Why Travel Matters To Me

During a phone conversation I had this week the person on the other end asked me where the next trip was, and when I replied London with a few days in the Cotswolds there was a distinct pause on the other end. “The CotsWhats?” they replied. I was taken back that this person didn’t have the faintest idea what I was talking about. I sometimes tend to forget that people aren’t massive Anglophiles like me. And they also don’t live and breathe for travel like me. The thought of being in constant travel probably occurred to me before I even knew I was on the planet. I have always aspired to go and see and do.

Once in a college course on diversity there was a fellow student that proudly raised her hand when asked if someone had never travelled out of their own state. Her hand shot up and she blurted out,” I had never left my town until I came here for school.” Wow, I thought. I don’t want to be THAT PERSON.

Recently I was coordinating my work schedule with some fellow employees in an effort to make sure everything would be covered while I am in London when it was obvious they could not comprehend that I would spend two weeks in another country. They simply don’t understand that there would be something worth seeing in Turkey, Chile or Europe. For them travel usually means packing up the car for a trip to a relative’s house for Thanksgiving – and that is it.

And it is with that that I cannot comprehend them. I mean after all travel is the perfect hobby. It is completely customizable in the fact that you could do a walking or hiking holiday, RV across the US, cruise the Caribbean or chill out in the Cotswolds. There aren’t just museums but also big balls of twine amongst other tacky roadside stops. There are camping options along with greasy spoons or elegant tea rooms. There are even vacations where the participants help build a house or village. Travel can be anything and everything a person wants it to be.

I have had this blog for about three years now and sometimes I don’t see the point of constantly blathering on about this and that. Is there really anyone reading this or am I just a Mecca for all the Internet troll bots that spam me with their ‘great post here is a link to my site’ comments I receive. As I was struggling to write the original post I had planned for this week I wasn’t really feeling it. Then I had that phone conversation. The CotsWhats? That interaction made me realize travel does matter. And this blog  matters to me. Travel is important to me because I don’t want to be the person proud to have never left their home town. And I want to see the Cotswolds, and London at Christmas, and Paris in the spring, and Chicago in a snowstorm (I may regret saying that one). But I want to see it all, and I will continue to share. And if you are reading this (I thank you greatly) I hope you enjoy my little blog and thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave me a comment (unless you are a spam bot!).

Do you like to travel? Are there other topics/ideas you would like to see on this blog? Is ir important to you to learn about other countries? What is the biggest lesson you have learned while travelling?