I don’t know if you ever do this, but I bring something back home with me when I travel. I don’t mean a kitchen towel with ‘Beach’ printed in aqua and lime green. Or even a t-shirt, for that matter.
I always bring home a piece of the local culture. In my heart.
When I’m traveling, I briefly think, “I could live here.” You know, just for a year, or long enough to get a REAL taste of the local culture? To disappear into the place and become a part of it. To learn and truly ‘live the place.’
Years ago, when I returned from a week-long vacation in California, I came home and wanted to eat sprouts, drink soy milk lattes, and do yoga. I also called the staff at our local YMCA and got the names of two books about meditation and life enrichment.
Travel is an enriching experience because of that very reason.
It expands our lives and makes them fuller; we learn something new and gain a different perspective. After traveling, we return home with a part of us that is a little different, making us more dimensional and interesting.
When I returned from Paris in my twenties, I drank thick black coffee with steaming milk and croissants. For months. I still drink my coffee that way.
My parents used to live near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. When I visited, my dad and I would ski, sit in a rustic little ski resort restaurant bar, and drink a local brew. I was ready to spend the winter there. I’m not a good enough skier to be an instructor, but I could surely wait tables….
Our family loves to travel to New York City at Christmas time. I am always amazed at the energy that the city gives me. It’s so full of life that you can’t help but start walking faster. A taste of life in the city, and I come home energized and ready to conquer the world.
Somehow travel makes us feel a little less self-important, broadens our horizons and our point of view, making us realize that not everyone and every place is the same.
It brings the world a little closer together too.
Want to read more about travel? Or see the 'America the Beautiful' art inspired by travel?