A Travelling Heart

One thing I've really been feeling guilty about is traveling. Why you ask? Because I do it a lot. The past four years I've been to at least twelve different places, and have lived in 6. Maybe it's the fact that I wasn't allowed to travel outside of the country, that I tried to do it in the country so much. Who knows? But that was my realize of freedom. I could be rebellious and travel all I wanted inside of the country.

Now, I finally understand people who do travel. Out of all the addictions out there, traveling is one of the easiest to fall in love with, hardest to resist, and (in my opinion) most worthwhile. There are things that I've learned while traveling that I never would've learned otherwise.

So why do I feel guilty then? It's easy to make travel look like it's a way of running away or not dealing with problems. That was one of the original reasons why I signed up for the government funded program, Katimavik. I didn't want to deal with home anymore. I also figured I wouldn't get homesick because I had been away from home a couple of times before and never did. I forgot to keep in mind that back then I was living with family. First week I was away from Katimavik, I was so homesick that every day I dreamed about going home. It's hard when you're living with total strangers. You don't have a connection already, but it's definitely not hard to make one once you're forced into the situation.Instead of being able to run away and be a completely new person, I realized that at the end of the day.. the only thing still familiar to me was me, and that I had to deal with the things that bug me. Katimavik was honestly one of the best experiences of my life.

I've been thinking about travel because I found a job away from here. Away from where I live, and quite honestly, I'm sad to leave. When I left for Katimavik I missed my friends a good deal more than I ever thought that I would. However, would I take back the experience? Absolutely not. I learned more than I ever thought possible.

I love leaving because there's so much to learn about other places! One day I hope to travel to India, Africa, Russia and Ireland, or maybe China? Who knows! For now I'm satisfied with traveling in my own country.

..and I'm happy to admit, I have the travel bug, it's the best bug I've ever had!