My heart, life and joy... my daughter Jessica is arriving today!
I've been crying on and off for days, weeks even, at the thought of her visiting.
It's been 15 months since I've hugged my child and that is just way too long.
So, please forgive me for recycling a post today.
This post was originally a guest post for Amanda at Living Another Language.
She is one of my favorite travel bloggers and about my daughters age.
Jessica and I will be packing our suitcases and heading to Paris on Monday.
Sharing Paris with my daughter will be a dream come true!!!
Even though the time apart is so difficult, another benefit of my expat life is that my daughter gets to experience the joys of travel, too.
1. Travel is addictive. It feeds your appetite for life. You develop a strong desire to learn more about history and culture, about how other people live, what they value and love. Travel will quickly become a passion for more. Once you have a travel moment, you are moved. And you can't wait for the next one to come along. Plus, it's just fun! Be careful because once you start you won't want to stop.
2. Travel is contagious. People who travel, talk about travel. All. The. Time. Travel is a story and stories are meant to be told. They just can't help it. And it's like a yawn, completely contagious. I can't tell you how many times in response to a conversation, a tweet, a blog post or a photograph, I've turned to Matt and said "I wanna go there!" The possibilities are absolutely endless.
3. Travel is invigorating. Once you start exploring, you expand your comfort zone. Your circle of experience becomes larger and you get more comfortable stepping into new territory. Being adventurous give you courage and makes you feel alive. You will be inspired to do more and see more, to experience life more fully.
4. Travel is exhausting. I can't tell you how many hissy fits I've had while traveling. (I might have just a few control issues.) When you're traveling there will be times when you have absolutely no control over a situation. Also, you always have to be "on." Aware of your surroundings, reading people's body language, communicating effectively, and managing logistics. When you're tired, hungry, frustrated and aggravated (read PMSing), you can only think about the usual comforts of home. Sofa. Pajamas. Wine. Remote. The last thing you want to do is drag suitcases up and down steps to get to the tube. (I swear they get heavier as a travel day progresses.)
5. Travel is challenging. Language barriers, cultural barriers and budgetary barriers. These are just some of the things you must deal with when you travel. And the work starts way before you head out the door. All of the research and planning that goes into travel is work. You have to be a project manager and a travel agent. Add a partner, family, friends, children or pets into the mix and things get even more challenging. You're basically just packing those relationships "glitches" and "challenging" personality traits in with your 14 pairs of shoes to take with you. (What? Don't you pack 2 pairs of shoes per day?)
6. Travel is humbling. I'll be the first to admit that even at my age (forty-mumble-mumble), I was very naive about the world. I was living a very US-centric existence and was a bit sheltered about the world outside of the States. Traveling has given me a whole different perspective about the world and has really made me rethink some of my beliefs. I love my home country now more than ever, but I'm much more aware of how the world views America and Americans and why.
Travel changes you. It challenges you to grow and learn more about yourself and others. It gives you a great story to tell.
What have you learned about travel? How has it changed you?
I have some cruise posts scheduled for the next week and you can follow our mother/daughter adventures on Twitter and Instagram.
I have some cruise posts scheduled for the next week and you can follow our mother/daughter adventures on Twitter and Instagram.
