"Finish This"

I have to apologize... this blog post, like most of mine is a mess. This weeks "Finish this" is my favorite topic and my thoughts are all over the place that it may not even make sense. Its on travel and I could write until I am blue in the face about the lesson I have learned through travel and the dreams I have of traveling but for now I will just "Finish this..."  

If I could fly to any destination tomorrow, I’d go to... New Orleans. 
Yes, my cousin Alexis may be coming home on Monday but I would give anything to fly there tomorrow to spend the weekend and fly home with her on Monday. I am absolutely dying to go visit her. Not only because I want to experience all of the fun and energy that New Orleans has to offer but because I miss the crap out of my cousin. 

I am so proud of the women that she and her sister have become. Going up next door to each other, they became more like sisters to me at a very young age. Every week, I look forward to reading Alexis' blog and living vivaciously through her fun in New Orleans. To see her passion come alive in her writing is honestly one of my greatest joys. I also look forward to the little bits of life lesson that she gives in every piece she writes.

When we were little, we fought often but I would fight for the two of them any day of the week.  One of my greatest passions is to travel and I know that they too share this love. We are the adventurous ones, the ones that crave to be somewhere we have never been and experience something entirely new. I hope that one day I can experience that joy with them. I hope to travel to New Orleans next year, not only to see new Orleans but to experience it through my cousins eyes. In the two years she has been there, it is clear that she has fallen in love with the city as much as we have grown to love the little town that we grew up in. Which optimizes the idea that every person with a wanderlust spirit traveler creates a sense of home everywhere they go. 

My best advice for traveling is... to relax. Too many times when we are traveling, we are consumed with arriving on time, packing, unpacking, getting the best seat or going to every sight seeing location that we possibly can, that we miss the best part of travel- being there! 

The best vacation I ever went on was with my Dad to Arizona. We went on a motorcycle tour through the state. I loved it because I was on the back of a Harley and I was completely out of control and I had the ability to experience very detail of that trip. Anyone who knows me knows that traveling is my favorite thing in the world. I love going somewhere new and the idea of the unexpected thrills me. I even love the "stressful" part before hand. I love airports and the chaos that ensues there. I love waiting for a plane to take off and all the people rushing around, everyone with a different story and reason for being there. Relaxing while traveling is key to enjoying the travel. You miss a flight, chill out- you weren't meant to get there at that time. Oh the tour you wanted to go on to see some castle is filled?- find something else. 

Some of the greatest memories that I have from traveling to Ireland and London are the times that we just explored. We pretended like we knew what the hell we were doing and went out there and loved every minute. We learned more about the culture in those unplanned moments and more importantly, we learned more about ourselves. Thats the thing about traveling you go into with an agenda and you come back with a completely different experience and look on life that you never imagined. You return home feeling more complete, smarter and at times stronger.  Travel frees you from the monotony of everyday and gives you memories and knowledge that make everyday more of an adventure.

I like LOVE to travel because... it is something that isn't tangible, it can not be taken away from you. I want to travel the world and see every part that I can (money willing). Like I said earlier, it has a way of teaching you things that you never knew you needed to know. But, another amazing part of travel is when it is time to come home. You come back reenergizes, refreshed and relaxed. When I came home from Ireland, I was more ready then ever to graduate and move on with the next phase of my life.  

My trip to London taught me to never judge a book by it cover. Some of the greatest people I will ever know were on that trip with me and I never would have had the chance to know them, if not for our time in London. 

My trip to Ireland taught me that you are never done growing and never done learning. We can go places and learn things that we never would have remaining home but in going we fall more in love with home. 

Travel reinforces the greatest lesson that I ever learned.... life is so imperfect, you might as well make amazing memories during the journey.