Why You Don’t Have to Be a World Traveler

If you have ever been on Pinterest for more than 5 seconds, you have seen at least a few quotes, imposed over a picture of some dream destination, encouraging you to do something along the lines of “Quit Your Job. Buy a Plane Ticket.” or, “Not all those who wander are lost,” or urging you to go on some great adventure.

Study abroad blogs rave about how much they learned while abroad (something I am guilty of, but I really did learn a lot). Everywhere you look online, someone is telling you that you need to travel in order to find yourself.

Here’s my problem with that. Travel is not for everyone, and not everyone can afford it. I was fortunate enough to be able to study abroad, but I know so many people who simply cannot afford to study in another country or travel on their own. People have jobs, classes, responsibilities. When did backpacking across Europe become a requirement for fitting in?

My friend Rachel (who endured lots of crazy adventures in Amsterdam with me, including our too-long bike ride) posted this article on Facebook over the summer and I kept it in the back of my mind for months, trying to put my thoughts into words as well as this writer did. 

Here is a really long quote, but it really sums up this (seemingly new) cultural pressure to travel in order to find yourself:  

“The girl in question posts superficially inspiring quotes on her lush photos, about dropping everything and running away, or quitting that job you hate to start a new life somewhere new, or soaking up the beauty of the world while you are young and untethered enough to do so. It’s aspirational porn, which serves the dual purpose of tantalizing the viewer with a life they cannot have, while making them feel like some sort of failure for not being able to have it.”

This doesn’t just involve money. I roll my eyes every time I see another post about how you have to travel while you are young. Why?  You may not even recognize the importance of what you are seeing. So many kids go abroad and end up spending 4 months partying and drunkenly wandering their way across major European cities. Did they see any sites? Did they visit a museum? No, but they think they had a great time. 

What was the point of traveling if you didn’t experience anything new? Yeah, you visited 10 countries, but do you actually remember what you saw?

“Traveling for the sake of travel is not an achievement, nor is it guaranteed to make anyone a more cultured, nuanced person.”

It bothers me to see so many people who think that this is a requirement to have a fulfilled life. Personally, I would probably never go backpacking for three months. I like having a home base, and I like not having to worry about where I am sleeping every night. 

I do not feel any need to quit everything to travel. I am perfectly fine with traveling during my time off. Does this mean I can go to Europe every summer? Probably not, at least not for a while. But I saw a great chunk of the world, and my desire to travel more comes from my desire to learn as much as I can.

I am, by no means, telling you not to travel. I encourage every single person to travel as much as they possibly can and to see everything. I love traveling, I crave to explore new cities and see everything that I can. 

I am also not discouraging you from your current travel plans. Go backpacking, go teach English in a developing country, go volunteer your time. See and do everything. 

If you, like many young people, cannot afford to just hop on a plane to Europe, explore your own backyard. Take little road trips with friends, explore new neighborhoods, try that new restaurant. Learning about the world can be as simple as exploring a part of your home that you have never seen before. Travel doesn’t have to extend beyond borders. 

But make sure that you are traveling for the right reasons. Do you love traveling and experiencing new things? Or are you simply traveling because you feel a certain pressure to ‘see the world’ while you are young, just because someone said so?