Why travel?

choosing one-way flights over London city lights

Travel and place often come up throughout my writing or in pictures I use, because I like travelling and exploring different places – letting various parts of the globe press into my memories and perspective. But on Substack, I haven’t talked much about the specifics of my travels (yet). I think a valid question is,

Why travel?

I’m not one of those people who will tell you that you have to travel, who will act like travel makes a life worth living. Because it doesn’t, and I find that attitude arrogant and exhausting.

If people learn anything from travel, I think it should be the realisation that you can lead a beautiful, complete life without ever leaving a village. All across the world, people have steady routines consisting of hard work, tradition and sacrifice. If you’re someone who can go from place to place freely, you’re doing so while others are putting their entire souls into their homes, communities and families without funds to go elsewhere. And they’re happy – they’re laughing at embarrassing moments, rocking babies to sleep, brewing coffee and playing guitar. Travel isn’t necessary, and in my opinion, you have as much to gain from making friends with your neighbours, and indulging in daily delights, as you do from hopping on a plane to the other side of the world.

So with that in mind – if you can, why go at all?

my photo of Kuang Si Waterfall – a gorgeous attraction in Laos

Everyone’s answers will be different depending on their experiences. My love for travel originally grew from curiosity. For me, growing up in the UK felt so devoid of tradition and culture – my parents always envied our European neighbours and as I got older I understood why. When I compare the UK to Poland, for example – as that’s a country I’ve spent a lot of time in – my heart aches a bit. In Poland, they have more holidays than they can remember to list, and kids talk about the food their grandmothers make with such genuine pride. They have rituals and dances and they have respect for these things. There’s not a lot to brag about in the UK regarding that aspect (Yorkshire puddings are on the short brag-worthy list though).

As a child, I had a pen pal in France and I used to get so excited translating her letters and getting to send ones back in the postbox, to travel across the English Channel and eventually end up at her house. As a teen, I made friends online in the USA and other countries, and was obsessed with how intimate the world felt in my laptop, even though the globe is so huge. While learning about countries with spicy food, languages I couldn’t read, and sights more beautiful than I could dream up, I felt a deep sense of wanderlust.

I finished my university course in 2020, the year that life came to a halt. I’d already had some travel experiences of my own in Europe and the states, but I stopped dreaming about further travel during the peak of Covid, because I didn’t know if I’d ever get to do it again. I decided not to get depressed about it. I indulged in “twenty-something teenage girl” mindset, focussed on finishing my degree from home and making 2am TikToks about Taylor Swift. Honestly, I was just grateful to be safe and healthy during such a strange time.

But when the world started to open back up, and I was trying to get a corporate job in London (lol), the rejections paired with my lack of passion were pushing me away. So I kept valuing travel and flexibility, and made choices regarding my work and lifestyle that would allow me to keep doing so.

taken at the Finland/Sweden border in Lapland

While volunteering on summer camps in Europe, I met someone who’d travelled more than I had and wasn’t ready to stop, and I fell completely in love with her. We were fortunate enough to have nothing binding us to the UK, so after being together for 2 years and having some more short-term experiences abroad, we booked one-way flights to Asia – we left for Thailand at the end of February this year. The question was: if not now, when? Travel might not be the only option, but sometimes it’s the one calling you – the one that’s worth packing up your belongings for.

Some people think those who love to travel are simply escaping, but I don’t see my life as that. I believe I’m flying towards opportunities, not running away from what I already have. Just because those opportunities might not give me grounded roots, doesn’t mean they’re not just as valid as LinkedIn posts about corporate success. Travel’s an opportunity to expand my life, and to understand countries and cultures beyond my own upbringing. I could have a lovely, complete life without ever leaving the UK – yes. However, I can’t help but long to know life in other places.

As someone who typically collects too many useless things, I enjoy making myself cut all that out and living out of my backpacks. This is actually my first time taking a big rucksack abroad instead of my beloved, big, now broken, yellow suitcase. I love the surprises of travel and embracing the unknown – I get a thrill out of the fact that every day is different. Not quite ready to “settle down”, I enjoy the way my girlfriend and I make our own slow-paced adventures, and discover new things together.

sunset in Pai, Thailand

Long, uncomfortable bus rides and budgets are as much a part of the travel package as tasty street food dishes and surreal views, and I try not to take any of it for granted. I used to dream about this, after all. And now I get to send postcards home, while simultaneously holding my girlfriend’s hand and thinking, I am home, in my own unique way. I feel really lucky, because I can’t count the amount of times I’ve walked down a lantern-lit street and thought, I love my life so much. I wake up in one of the most vibrant cities I’ve ever visited, knowing there’s still so much I don’t know about it, and feel fortunate beyond expression.

So, why travel? Because it calls me, and because right now, I can. Because for me, all the inconveniences are so worth it.

I plan to talk more about travel across my niche-less, scattered Substack, so feel free to subscribe if you’d like to hear more (amongst other things – like queerness, identity, and media I love).

Thank you for reading!

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