Why is it so Important to Travel?
- Trish Tothova
- Aug 22, 2017
- 4 min read
We are embark upon many important decisions and paths in our life that sometimes we don’t think about the pleasure of leaving our own bubble, wherever that may be.
For those who haven’t traveled much before or never left the country at all, sometimes all you need is the confidence and appeal of visiting somewhere you can see yourself enjoying. When I was three years old, I moved countries and this was a big step for my mother and what ultimately turned my life around. I vaguely remember life as a baby in my home country, only the kitchen tiles I used to run along in my grandparents’ house.
The itch to travel started when I was only five and my mum began taking me on summer holidays. We visited places like Cyprus and Portugal, where you can find hot weather, nice beaches and good food. Luckily with an auntie in America I was also able to visit and see Florida and Orlando along with Disneyland. This gave me some great child hood memories of a carefree time in a carefree city.
But my first real experience of true beauty and what set the trigger on my love of travelling was a school trip I decided to take to Switzerland when I was only 15, the same year before I started my GCSE’s. I stood at the top of the highest mountains in the town of Interlaken and witnessed some of the most breath taking and pure views you could imagine. With a landscape of white beauty, the clouds tickling the mountain tops and the crisp, fresh and icy cold air saturating into my lungs, I felt for the first time an appreciation that the world had so much more to offer than I’d ever dreamed of before.
We live in a busy world, where so much is going on and people are constantly moving, so sometimes we don’t stop to take a look around at what’s right in front of us. The views in Switzerland were a picture in my mind I could never take for granted. Getting home I remember I couldn’t wait to take my next trip. So, every summer up until finishing school we would travel to different countries and it felt like an escape from real life.
At the age of 18 I decided to take a diploma in New York City and moved there for a month. This was the first time I would be alone on a trip, but when I arrived I was over whelmed by the magnitude of what the city had to offer. I was both scared and excited to see what was out there in the big apple. I used all my spare time outside of classes to visit the top sightseeing spots and museums. I used to walk the length of Manhattan until my feet couldn’t keep going, but I didn’t care because my eyes kept telling my feet that it will all be worth it in the end.
The moment which blew me away was one night on the promenade of Brooklyn Heights just along the road where I was staying, I took it upon myself to walk down and see the Wall Street skyline. Walking down at 1am I could see in the midst of the trees, sparkling lights. I tried to keep my head down until I got to the railings along the river of the promenade.
When I arrived, I took a deep breath, pulled my head up straight and opened by eyes. And there it was, the magnificent, buzzing, electric and phenomenal Manhattan skyline all lit up. It must have been a couple of minutes before I even gave myself the chance to blink because it didn’t feel real. To stand in such a place which made me feel like I was special just for witnessing its beauty.
So that’s the thing about traveling, you are a witness to the beauty of the world. You can share with people the history, life and experiences you earn. You learn about other cultures, how people live, what people have and don’t have. We must take it upon ourselves to be a witness of what this world has to offer, its history, its beauties and its downfalls.
When you’re old and grey and you can’t take those long trips, what you have is a mind full of embellished and colourful memories of the world and then you will know too, just how beautiful the world is and nobody can take those experiences from you.
So if it’s your first time or your 50th, take those little trips, the long weekends and great adventures where you can escape from life and appreciate all the smaller things we can easily forget, like the sunset along a coast line or having the family together laughing in a precious place.
We have one life, it’s our duty to live it with every ounce of passion we have.
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