Travel.

Growing up my parents made sure we were in some sort of club or a part of some kind of team every year. I started with dance classes; learning ballet, tap, and jazz. Then I dibbled and dabbled in a few other things in between but ultimately fell in love with Allstar Cheerleading. Being on an allstar cheerleading team opened my eyes to many things, one of them being traveling. Due to the cost of allstar cheerleading and having siblings who were also in extracurricular activities, my family could not always afford to attend the out of state competitions. So traveling alone wasn’t anything I ever feared. 

At twenty one I made the decision to leave Maryland; leaving behind my family, friends, and the only place I have ever called home to move five hours away to a state I’ve never visited and without anyone I’d know. This was never something I dreamed of, I just knew that I wanted to move on my own but couldn’t afford to do that while living in Maryland so I googled, along with a few other things, cheap places to live. Greensboro, North Carolina was the closest place to home and therefore won my decision. Excited, optimisited, and determined to thrive in NC I spent almost six years there working strategically to accomplish every goal I set for myself.

A little before moving there I came across youtube videos that showcased people living on school busses and became obsessed. It was all I could talk about for the next few years. I was so in love with the life that living on a school bus seemed to offer. While living in NC I continued watching those videos and soon searching for a bus of my own. I eventually purchased a school bus and was extremely excited that this dream would soon be a reality. After what felt like a million obstacles the day had come for the bus to be towed to my home. I was notified that the tow truck arrived and was overwhelmed with joy. A few minutes later they called to tell me there was no way they could move the bus because all of the tires were dry rotted. Those joyful emotions instantly turned to the feeling of defeat. For the next few years I would overindulge in “bus life” youtube videos until stumbling across “van life.”

It was basically the same thing as living on a bus but just in a van. Van life was now added to my bag of obsessions.  I’m sure you know the drill by now, I could not stop watching van life youtube videos. At some point I decided that a van would be better for me to start out with. It just seemed to fit my current life at the time. Fast forward to 2018 and there is a whole van life community flooding youtube with tours and instagram with the coolest of photos. I fell in love with the aesthetics. I purchased a ‘86 Chevy G20 van and began my conversion. So wrapped up in the new social media van life culture, I put all my focus and money into the wrong things. Long story short, van life for me was short lived. I have not given up on traveling the United States in a van but have realized that now isn’t my time. 

Through all of this one thing has remained…my love for traveling. 

Though I have not traveled as much as I want or to as many places as I would like, I have gotten my feet wet. Instead of being so caught up in how I travel, I have realized that I just need to do it. So I am doing whatever it takes to make sure that I can see as much of the world as possible while leaving behind a little of my love  everywhere I go and taking with me a little of someone else’s.

I am saying all this to say, get out there and travel. There are so many ways to travel and it doesn’t have to cost you a whole lot. Stay tuned, my travel journey starts now.

• Comment some of your favorite places you’ve visited
• If you haven’t traveled yet, where is the first place you want to go?