I’ve always been drawn to travel; desired to see the world through people, culture and food. And while one would expect good graces and encouragement, I’ve often gotten mostly the same reactions from people; warnings and concerns.
I recently realized that I am not alone.
My first journey transpired when I was 16. I had just gotten my drivers licence and my first car, and I told my parents I was interested in driving from where we lived in central Pennsylvania to Arizona. My grandmother lived there, so it seemed like a logical destination.
I set a date, and began my countdown. A few days before I left my parents gave me their “safety” speech, and my father presented me with a AAA membership in the event that anything went wrong with the car during my travels.
The drive was long, but absolutely amazing. I stopped in small towns along the way meeting people who fueled me with encouragement. I had a few bumps, but the majority of the journey was as smooth as still water; flowing, yet manageable.
Long story short, I arrived at my grandmothers home, spent a week or so with her, and drove home more enriched than I had ever felt in my life. I vowed to try to do a cross country drive to somewhere new every summer; and I successfully did 4 more.
My last drive across country was in 2010 when I decided to move to San Francisco, California. I was 25 and itching for something new. I drove from central Pennsylvania to San Francisco in April of 2010 and haven’t looked back, until now.
While I have done quite a bit of traveling since moving to the bay area, I am now about to embark on the farthest and hopefully longest trip of them all.
I am headed to Abu Dhabi this week. I have told many close friends about this trip and have, surprisingly, gotten tremendous encouragement around it (likely because at this point the people who know me well wouldn’t expect any less from me), yet, when I meet strangers and begin to discuss with them my travel plans, they’re almost always trying to warn me to stay out of the Middle East and to try to find a travel partner to join me on my journey.
And that’s why I am here. To show the world that at the end of the day, we are all experiencing life together and ultimately, we’re living on One Good Globe.
I hope you’ll join me in this experience and find your own internal travel bug that itches you hard enough to get out of your comfort zone.
After all, we’re all in this together.
Be Happy. Be Well.
One Good Globe 