Wanderlust
A strong desire to travel:
a man consumed by wanderlust
As a Geographer and an aspiring travel writer, I spend a LOT of my time searching and reading about places. Often these are places where the sun generally shines all year round. Places you can find the tallest mountains, largest volcanoes, highest waterfalls. Places where the most extraordinary animals live on your doorstep. You get the idea. Those wonderful places we all wished we lived.. And I'm sure you sometimes get this feeling too? That feeling my friend, is called wanderlust. And you have probably got it bad.
You can blame it for not getting you up in the morning. You can blame it for failing your exams. You can blame it for walking into that lamppost mid-daydream the other day. You can blame it for making you stay in the other night like a jealous girlfriend, whilst your friends partied the night away, just so you can save up your last pennies. You can blame it for all that money you spent on lonely planet books and national geographic subscriptions; they fuel your addiction. You can blame it for the lack of wall space in your room thanks to your ridiculous obsession with maps. You can also blame it for that real shitty summer job you worked full time (not PD's Dave! I love it there!).. But anyway, you know the point I'm trying to get at..
Wanderlust is the bane of every nomad's life. It's that itchy feet feeling when you've stayed somewhere too long and just need a change of scene to freshen up your outlook on life. The longing to travel is like the longing for a loved one who's on the other side of the world or a thirst that is just never fulfilled, no matter how many bottle of drench you guzzle. I've never understood people who were happy living within their own little bubbles, never leaving the small town they're from, never meeting new people or having new experiences. People who'd say "you went where?.. I've never even heard of it.. Uh, you stayed in a hostel?!.. What a bizarre place to go on holiday..". I'm from a (relatively) small valley in South Wales and most of the people there will never walk to the end of their own street, never mind fly to the other side of the world (I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but it's true). The only way I could ever describe that feeling would be if you put me in a cardboard box and told me I was never allowed out. Please, if I ever turn down an offer to explore a new country, just shoot me there and then, because 1. I have either been possessed, 2. I've turned into a zombie, or 3. I've lost my marbles.. My mother doesn't call me Lora Dora for nothing. But anyway, I didn't begin writing this post with the goal of offending anybody, I just haven't written anything for a while (thanks degree and thanks dissertation), and found myself seriously procrastinating this evening applying for university travel grants, reading online travel blogs, reading through my huge collection of National Geographics and gazing at travel photography and just realised I've probably got it bad.
I can't wait until my degree is done and dusted (only four months now!), and I fly to Bali for almost two months. Two months of exploring, walking, diving, surfing, SUPing, writing, photographing. I love the simplicity that comes with travelling, just having a backpack with some essentials, but really all that 'stuff' becomes worthless as you gain priceless experiences. As you approach the end of your travels and your funds run low, you're satisfied with rich new information, views, colours, culture. I've always been so amazed by new things, new informations, new answers.. I used to annoy my mother as a child with the question "why?" over and over again, because I've always been hungry for new information and explanations, my eyes always hungry for new sights. I think this is why I personally find it so hard to comprehend people satisfied with sitting at home all day, never seeing the outside world, never finding an adventure, even if it is only outside your own doorstep. It is however, very easy, especially now during the winter, to stay inside to avoid the cold and the wind, but please, I urge you to go outside. I've made it my new years resolution to be outside for at least half an hour every day. Try not to take your phone, and whilst you're there just enjoy the outdoors. Take in all of the elements and just be in the moment; appreciate what you have in front of you.
I think it's so easy when we're at home daydreaming of places we want to travel to, reading endless books and guides, pinning places on the map, that we forget there is a world outside.
Most people spend their lives planning a trip away, and then consistently putting it off until eventually it never happens and it's too late. I think if we start small, explore local, this will encouraging a broader idea and inspire better confidence to finally take that plunge needed. I think the message I'm trying to get across is this; it's all well and good searching for adventures to have elsewhere, sitting in your room planning where to go, saving up all your money for expensive flights and buying new bikinis, but don't take what's on your doorstep for granted. Explore it all you can, even the smallest places. I remember as a child, even a walk up the street felt like a big adventure; a chance to explore. I think naturally, as human beings, we all have that urge to curiously explore new places because we are curious human beings; without experimentation and curiosity we wouldn't have succeeded as the developed race that we are today. Don't lose that childlike feeling of adventure; that curious urge to see what cool things there are around the corner.
A strong desire to travel:
a man consumed by wanderlust
As a Geographer and an aspiring travel writer, I spend a LOT of my time searching and reading about places. Often these are places where the sun generally shines all year round. Places you can find the tallest mountains, largest volcanoes, highest waterfalls. Places where the most extraordinary animals live on your doorstep. You get the idea. Those wonderful places we all wished we lived.. And I'm sure you sometimes get this feeling too? That feeling my friend, is called wanderlust. And you have probably got it bad.
You can blame it for not getting you up in the morning. You can blame it for failing your exams. You can blame it for walking into that lamppost mid-daydream the other day. You can blame it for making you stay in the other night like a jealous girlfriend, whilst your friends partied the night away, just so you can save up your last pennies. You can blame it for all that money you spent on lonely planet books and national geographic subscriptions; they fuel your addiction. You can blame it for the lack of wall space in your room thanks to your ridiculous obsession with maps. You can also blame it for that real shitty summer job you worked full time (not PD's Dave! I love it there!).. But anyway, you know the point I'm trying to get at..
Wanderlust is the bane of every nomad's life. It's that itchy feet feeling when you've stayed somewhere too long and just need a change of scene to freshen up your outlook on life. The longing to travel is like the longing for a loved one who's on the other side of the world or a thirst that is just never fulfilled, no matter how many bottle of drench you guzzle. I've never understood people who were happy living within their own little bubbles, never leaving the small town they're from, never meeting new people or having new experiences. People who'd say "you went where?.. I've never even heard of it.. Uh, you stayed in a hostel?!.. What a bizarre place to go on holiday..". I'm from a (relatively) small valley in South Wales and most of the people there will never walk to the end of their own street, never mind fly to the other side of the world (I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but it's true). The only way I could ever describe that feeling would be if you put me in a cardboard box and told me I was never allowed out. Please, if I ever turn down an offer to explore a new country, just shoot me there and then, because 1. I have either been possessed, 2. I've turned into a zombie, or 3. I've lost my marbles.. My mother doesn't call me Lora Dora for nothing. But anyway, I didn't begin writing this post with the goal of offending anybody, I just haven't written anything for a while (thanks degree and thanks dissertation), and found myself seriously procrastinating this evening applying for university travel grants, reading online travel blogs, reading through my huge collection of National Geographics and gazing at travel photography and just realised I've probably got it bad.
I can't wait until my degree is done and dusted (only four months now!), and I fly to Bali for almost two months. Two months of exploring, walking, diving, surfing, SUPing, writing, photographing. I love the simplicity that comes with travelling, just having a backpack with some essentials, but really all that 'stuff' becomes worthless as you gain priceless experiences. As you approach the end of your travels and your funds run low, you're satisfied with rich new information, views, colours, culture. I've always been so amazed by new things, new informations, new answers.. I used to annoy my mother as a child with the question "why?" over and over again, because I've always been hungry for new information and explanations, my eyes always hungry for new sights. I think this is why I personally find it so hard to comprehend people satisfied with sitting at home all day, never seeing the outside world, never finding an adventure, even if it is only outside your own doorstep. It is however, very easy, especially now during the winter, to stay inside to avoid the cold and the wind, but please, I urge you to go outside. I've made it my new years resolution to be outside for at least half an hour every day. Try not to take your phone, and whilst you're there just enjoy the outdoors. Take in all of the elements and just be in the moment; appreciate what you have in front of you.
I think it's so easy when we're at home daydreaming of places we want to travel to, reading endless books and guides, pinning places on the map, that we forget there is a world outside.
Most people spend their lives planning a trip away, and then consistently putting it off until eventually it never happens and it's too late. I think if we start small, explore local, this will encouraging a broader idea and inspire better confidence to finally take that plunge needed. I think the message I'm trying to get across is this; it's all well and good searching for adventures to have elsewhere, sitting in your room planning where to go, saving up all your money for expensive flights and buying new bikinis, but don't take what's on your doorstep for granted. Explore it all you can, even the smallest places. I remember as a child, even a walk up the street felt like a big adventure; a chance to explore. I think naturally, as human beings, we all have that urge to curiously explore new places because we are curious human beings; without experimentation and curiosity we wouldn't have succeeded as the developed race that we are today. Don't lose that childlike feeling of adventure; that curious urge to see what cool things there are around the corner.
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