Why don't you want to travel?

A world with different cultures, different landscapes, different languages and so on. Some discover it with a screen, watching YouTube, Instagram or even television. Others discover it by themselves.

I've always dreamed of travelling. Being able to see all of our planet's aspects with my own eyes — me, an occidental guy who wants to detach himself from his culture and be pushed in an unfamiliar environment.

I have always wanted to leave something behind me. A note about the discoveries I made, telling stories about one's country, its population and its way of life.

"It's time to move on"

Growing up, I was always told that our world was beautiful and endless. That exploring it was the most stunning and inspiring thing to do, and that being stuck in our cities, our neighbourhoods, was the most foolish thing to do.

As I got older, more and more people began to be "travellers". Friends that go everywhere with their parents, a girlfriend who falls in love with humanity's diversity, influencers who travel the globe and make me dream.

I was guided by a desire, by an idea, that I would discover all these things as well. I'll stop being jealous, morose in front of pictures or tales. I'll make them. I'll be the one that writes, that takes advantages of his photography skills to make people dream.

I travelled through Europe, exploring the density of the Andorran mountains, discovering the British way of acceptating all the differences that composed our humankind, enjoying the Spanish sun and "fiestas", to finish by finding out that France landscapes are pretty diversified as well.

Travelling quickly became a source of inspiration. I felt more alive, my lost creativity began to sparkle again. It allowed me to create more, pushing me out of my routine. I embraced freedom.

Of course, this challenged me too. I had to put behind my assumptions and habits, travelling shook up my patterns. But the pleasure of feeling everything, the light touching my face at the summit of a mountain, the sounds of the waves crashing against the rock; every raindrop, every windy moments were experiences that impacted me.

I was surprised, and it delighted me. I laughed at my incredibly bad English accent (considering that I'm French, the cliché is true) and discoved things that I wouldn't have been able to imagine otherwise. It exhausted and frustrated me, too. The weather that wants to play with you, the feelings when you just have twenty-four hours, while thinking about all the things that you have yet to see.

All of that is part of my experiences. And, as tiny as it is, I'm so grateful that it happened. It made me more open-minded and mature than I used to be, and I just want to continue, again and again.

Here came a dilemma

A friend of mine, Quentin, had the chance to travel across the world since his childhood. As he told me, he learned "to walk and eat in Asia".

"I've been in almost every country in Western Europe […] I must admit that at the time, I wasn't really aware of my chance. Yet I think that it helped me in some ways to be more open-minded about going abroad."

But of course, like everything, there was an issue. Quentin's ecological conscience grew and as such came a dilemma.

"I don't know what to choose between travelling, which definitely opened my mind back then, and following my ecological convictions. It is true that planes […] are an environmental disaster."

This dilemma, which may be one of yours, and other "problems" such as time and money, can in fact be easily solved.

Travel doesn't always mean that you have to go far away. You can explore your states, your country or even (especially for European citizens) your continent. You can explore starting beyond your door; you can discover incredible things hidden next to you.

Travelling is, in a way, more like a state of mind than an activity.

My final thoughts on travelling

For sure, travelling changed me. I learned so much, saw such beautiful things, and met such incredible people.

And yes, travelling made me uncomfortable at times; but it allowed me to see who I really am.

"Earth is a marvelous place to live in, we should protect it as much as we can."

And Earth is just waiting for us to explore it.