relery.untamed
Open Hearts Open Minds
won-der-luhst : A desire or lust to wander. Most who know me best would probably say that’s an accurate word to describe my spirit. Always wandering, always searching - wanting to be free. I used to be the girl that answered the question, “If you could be anywhere in the world doing anything, what would it be…” with, “Sitting in the best coffee shop in town, maybe somewhere in Paris down a cute alley, writing as I look out over the people, observing them as they go by…” Something romantic of that nature. I’ve always wanted to be anywhere other than where I am, doing something entirely different than what I'm currently doing - even if there’s nothing wrong with either of the two. A constant battle with restlessness. I’d never been on a family vacation growing up. I was fortunate to go to Florida and Myrtle Beach with my Mother when I was in middle school, and I cherish those trips. But the most exciting thing my Mom, Dad, and I had ever done all together was create the yearly tradition of a Christmas-time Frankenmuth trip -- and don’t get me wrong -- I loved it. Charlie Brown’s Christmas album filled the car with noise all the way there and back. I would stare out the window of the backseat, hoping snow would fall to paint the perfect Christmas story I’d created in my head. We would pull up to the lodge with the views of huge, beautiful Christmas Trees and pass by the largest Christmas store in the country. German culture, fudge shops, and a village surrounding us with a rustic feel to it, smelling of pine trees and cinnamon and warmth everywhere. I got to be a kid there, and it always meant a lot to me that no matter what the situation was back home - my parents went out of their way to make that trip happen each year and make it fun for me. These small memories and travels made me appreciate the bigger places so much more. When I was in college, I started venturing out a little more - going to California and Hawaii. Hiking the Na Pali Coast in Kauai (which was absolutely incredible) where I could have EASILY died, but where I also saw whales and dolphins riding on top of the water, triple rainbows, hidden waterfalls, and meteor showers. My curiosity continued to expand as I entertained other parts of the world, not knowing where to begin. But the elusive romantic places from the movies I'd seen and the poetry I'd read always stood out; Rome, Greece, France, Scotland, Ireland...places that held so much beauty, history, and art. I wanted to be engulfed in it. This past summer while sitting in the middle of my living room floor with my roommate, Andrea, the conversation came up that we’d both always wanted to go to Western Europe. We researched plane tickets, found great deals, looked at hostels, and within an hour we were asking each other, “Are we really doing this? Because if we are, we just need to do it now.” That was all it took for us to decide to book a two-week trip, one month in advance in the matter of almost 24 hours. One of the more impulsive things I’ve done, but it doesn’t take much for me to be all in on an adventure. Especially with people I love. Were the details figured out? Absolutely not. But I had full faith in Andrea, and Andrea only, that we would have a fantastic trip ahead. I’m more of a “you plan, I’ll be there ready to go” type of gal. And I was right -- she made sure we were organized and routes were aligned. Before we knew it, we had a very loose itinerary trip planned starting with our first location in Paris, followed by London, Scotland, and finally, Ireland. We'd both never been to Europe, so we decided we couldn't go wrong starting here. We walked between 10-15 miles per day, checked in and out of hostels, and kept an open agenda for our days with a flexible plan of “must-sees”. We shopped at local markets for food and snacks. We found out how to use foreign public transportation, made friends with people from all over the world, laughed a lot, saved a dog, had dinner with a traveling musician, got an inside-tour of “Big Ben” by a guy we met in a pub, rode a 4-hour train while sitting on the floor with a group of people, were moved to tears by live singers and violinists in the streets of Scotland, embarrassed myself in front of at least 100 people during a street production skit I was a part of, watched the Tour De France live without realizing it was being held the week we were there (this should tell you how unplanned we were) -- but we had the trip of a lifetime. While I’d love to share more about the trip itself, my intention for this writing specifically was to tell you about what I learned about myself and about the way I viewed the world while I was there. I brought my journal everywhere I went to try to capture every detail in each significant moment that happened. We took time to write on the hills and mountains, at night while in our hostel beds, at breakfast, while taking the train - we did a lot of reflection. Being that intentional allowed for my eyes to open wider so that I could pay attention to not just what was in front of me, but what was around me, too. Going into this trip, I’d sensed that I was going to have some sort of "awakened" experience while I was there. I didn’t know how or in what way. But fortunately, I wasn’t wrong. Here’s some common themes I found when I re-read my journal.
I think traveling is one of the best ways to open your mind. It allows you to observe and be a part of different human connection and interaction, to navigate unfamiliar territory (literally and figuratively), to be pushed out of your comfort zone, and to adapt. It shows you how other parts of the world live (Europe with much less processed food that I wish America would hop on board with) and dress, what they do for enjoyment, what they sound like. And sometimes the littlest differences can make you appreciate where you come from so much more. Like free and plentiful access to public restrooms, no communication barriers, cleanliness, and currency. We take convenience for granted. We take lots of things for granted. And this is one of the largest reasons why I love traveling so much and why I want to continue to do SO MUCH MORE of it. So I can, of course, experience the greatness that other places have to offer, but so that I can also truly appreciate where I come from. So while traveling often creates wanderlust for most, leaving us with a desire for more once we get a taste of everything the world has to offer; I thought I’d be on fire to get out further. Planning the next trip right away. But as incredible and important as it is to expose yourself to different cultures, scenery, values and societal norms; to fully immerse yourself in it and appreciate it for all that it is, don’t forget what a special gift it is to be right where we are. To see what we see, be surrounded by the circles of people that we love, and to have roots. So I reminded myself that it was OKAY to bask in where I was for a while, and that I wasn't truly missing out on as much as I thought I was. Sometimes we need reality checks to recognize that things that are different can be great and amazing and surreal, but that doesn’t always make them better. It just makes them different. These recognitions are complimentary to the process of experiencing life at its fullest capacity. And more importantly, being present and awake to what’s in front of us. So If you’ve been waiting to go and made every excuse not to, just DO it. There will never be enough time, enough money, enough opinions, enough convenience or enough reasons not to. Go, because going might change the trajectory of your life. It might make you come back and hug the people you left a little harder. It might make you pack up and leave, or it might just leave you with amazing memories and reflections you wrote about in your diary. Either way, you’ll be glad you did.
2 Comments
michelefletcher
5/7/2020 07:32:47 am
You are one awesome gal! Your mom and dad must be so proud of you! I am just like you except now I am old (going to be 65 this month) and you are right on stating not enough time, money etc...I did go all over traveling and lived in Germany for a year (Army) and Hawaii for 3 year (Army) then all over the U.S. (Army). But on own visited 7 countries...Loved it. You would really like my son Dave Fletcher he travels to places that not many go loves to hike, etc. He has been to Iceland twice, Norway twice, Finland twice and in Feb. 2021 going to Sweden (each trip is a week long). He likes winter because not many people and the awesome northern lights! Look him up on FB he is a real hoot! Very fun, easy going and sweet carefree person! Anyway ADVENTURES are the best and make life worth living! I still do them but the hike are not more than 5 miles and not with high difficulty now...(both hips totally replaced and a total knee replaced...probably due to so many marathons in the day)
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Victoria
5/7/2020 10:28:35 am
Loved everything. You are super writer... keep up what we need to know.
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Becoming who I am without the world telling me who to be.-Rachel (R) Elery Archives
March 2021
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