39) Travel

Over the weekend, I came across this great quote from an article by Jonah Lehrer in The Guardian:

We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.

I participated in an abroad program when I was just entering high school. I stayed with a French family for part of the summer in Albi, a small town located in the southwest part of France. Though it was a great experience, I don't think I fully appreciated it as a fifteen year-old. I was too naive, too homesick (for part of it), too young (too bad at French) to take full advantage of the stay.

Later in college, I debated going back to France for a semester abroad. Somehow the stakes were higher. I made excuses that my major required too many credits to allow for time away. The reality was that I was afraid I would miss out on too much while I was gone. Back then, friends, relationships, your major felt like the most important things in your microscopic world.

It took awhile, but I'm finally realizing the importance of travel. Say what you will about the cliché broadening of horizons, or needing to get away. The idea of putting distance between what you know, and its effect on the very way you think is fascinating to me.

The time to travel is now. With nothing to hold you back, with nothing to miss out on.