To My Fellow 20-Somethings: Travel, Because The Time To Be Selfish Is Now

Leaving home at the age of 15, I had no idea then what was to come of my future. Now, at the ripe age of 22 I can say that I can offer up a piece of advice or two when it comes to moving to a new city, meeting new people and adjusting to everything from cultural differences, homesickness, language barriers, and constantly packing and unpacking bags and boxes.

Sometimes for as little as a month, and sometimes for three years, my independence has allowed me to settle in to new places around the globe calling them home. All these places share only one thing in common though; as soon as they start to really feel like home, that’s when it’s time to pick up and leave and move on to the next.

I have been blessed with the independence and nomad like qualities that leave me with the curiosity to pack up my life and challenge myself once again every time I begin to get settled somewhere, which for now as a young adult is ok.

I have accepted that these are my selfish years and with nothing holding me back, it is the time to explore.

With this selfishness comes loneliness, guilt and occasional sadness. You will miss big life events and milestones shared by the people you left behind; engagements, deaths, baby showers, etc. Somehow you will find a way to be okay with it, because it is with every new move, new city, and new friendships that I find myself figuring out who I am supposed to be and what it is I want out of this life; and you will too.

I am simply here to say that it will not be easy, the goodbyes and the people you leave behind will always be more difficult than any other obstacle you may overcome, but these are the people and events that will define you and shape you. The places, people, and experiences will allow you to be the best version of yourself, life wasn’t meant to be easy but it also wasn’t meant to be stagnant. I have learned that it’s about the experiences you create for yourself, not the one’s society says you have to follow.