Why I Want To Travel To All 50 States

By

I have always been a dreamer. If it weren’t for these dreams, I would be an entirely different person with an entirely different set of convictions, desires, and accomplishments. I wanted to discover the great unknown. I remember all the days I told my friends, my mother and my father, of this need to discover. I remember watching movies from America as a 10 year-old Moroccan girl. Here I was, in Rabat, screaming at the huge buildings, all the yellow cabs, the bright lights, the women in beautiful red dresses, all the men hidden by shadows and cigarette smoke. New York City. Los Angeles. My dreams could come true, I knew. My dreams could come true.

As of today, I have managed to travel to 33 states. My goal, my dream is to visit and experience all 50. When you travel across America on a plane, a bus, or a train, you truly immerse yourself into some deep thoughts. I am changing, I am growing up, and I am having a bigger perspective. Wait… I can finally see the big picture.

I dictate my life to following this trajectory: I work as a Residential Advisor for Hampshire College. I tutor French and Arabic. I do whatever I can to make money. Then, when time permits, I book flights. Come a break from school, winter or summer, I strive to be somewhere else—somewhere new. New York is California is Nebraska is Colorado.

Here I was in San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Kansas City, Washington DC, New York City, Niagara Falls, Disney World, and so many other places, moved almost to tears when I saw the lights, the mountains, the diversity of people, and the big buildings, in a closer look. The Golden Gate Bridge represented the connection to my future. Being there—being anywhere—is one of those moments where everything just becomes clear. My determination to shape my own future is stronger than ever. I wanted to take my destiny in my own hands… Create opportunities and endless possibilities. So, I often look at myself in the mirror, and all I can see? A bright eyed, happy and hopeful face.

This coming winter break, I am heading to Wyoming, Utah, California, Colorado, Maryland, and New York. I left Morocco in the summer of 2010 for college and have since been wandering around this country while being at school. I have been traveling to a new destination, meeting different people, experiencing different cultures, adjusting to new atmospheres, bridging this life to the one in Morocco and having so many ideas running through my mind. I want to share these feelings.

I almost feel like there is nothing I can’t accomplish.

I 
grow increasingly motivated, hopeful, excited, and satisfied with the world around me. Whatever I have, I want more, and wherever I am, I want to go somewhere else. Through my story, I am hoping to share the joys of traveling, making new friends, exploring new places, and sharing my life with people around me. After all, I am indeed too much of a dreamer.