Be The Girl That Travels

I bet by now, you’ve seen the Don’t Date A Girl Who Travels and You Should Love A Woman Who Travels articles, which, for the record, I find extremely relevant to my life in most ways. And while they’re extremely well-written, I think that simply being the girl who travels is the key idea. Leave the dating idea out of my life completely and now we’re talking.

And so, here is my spin on the whole idea.

Be the girl who travels and reawaken your sense of hope in the world. Let it change you, transform you, and give you a sort of longing that few other things ever will.

Be the girl who travels and is continuously blown away by the sheer beauty of unknown. Let it make you laugh, let it make you cry, and let it shake you to your core.

Be the girl who travels with bad hair, tanned skin, and more scars from travel than she could ever count. Embrace it fully. Let every strand, every tan line, and every flaw on your body be a reminder of the story that accompanies it.  Like it, love it, and cherish it. It’s yours, and only yours.

Be the girl who travels and who can never truly pinpoint the best day of her life, because there are too many breathtaking moments to ever narrow down. Let it be the hardest question anyone ever asks you.

Be the girl who travels and constantly lives out of her comfort zone. Do the things that royally scare the pants off of you. Move across the world, throw yourself out of a plane, or (gasp) share a room with 10 snoring strangers to save $ 2 a night. After all, she knows that when it comes to travel, every single penny (or smallest denomination of currency) counts.

Be the girl who travels and knows no limits. She knows that there is no impossible, and she will spend every waking moment proving it.

Be the girl who travels, questions, and over-thinks everything. Set your own standards, and never be content. Keep moving forward, and discovering.

Be the girl who travels and writes as a way of freeing her mind and sharing her passion with the world. Write as a way to remember the way you were feeling during your travels at any given moment.

Be the girl who travels and lives out of nothing but a backpack for a year. Abandon the possessions that bring little to no real value to your life. Remember what it was like to be a ratchet-y looking adolescent without make up. Except that you weren’t ratchet-y. You were beautiful without it, and you still are. Pick the bare essentials (not the foundation..) and GO!

Be the girl who travels as it reiterates your independent, free, and radiant spirit. Prove to yourself (and the world) that you can do anything. And that you will do anything.

Be the girl who travels and changes the world. Build houses, teach children, or volunteer at an orphanage. Serve the world that’s given so much to you, and let it simultaneously give you a sense of greater purpose.

Be the girl who travels and discovers herself in the meantime. Get lost, and find your way again (in life, and in travels). Be afraid of showing up alone and having no idea what to do or where to go next. Let it scare you to the point of tears. And do it anyway.

Be the girl who travels as it will teach you how to be even better with money than you already are (or aren’t). You will quickly learn that more clothes and shoes will only make your backpack heavier, your money dwindle, and your life more crowded (and clouded) with crap.

Instead, be the girl who enjoys navigating this beautiful world alone. Be the girl who travels and relies on no one but herself. Be the girl who few people can ever keep up with, or count on to be content in one place. Be the girl who doesn’t need another person to be happy, and is self-sufficient in succeeding in life by herself. And most importantly, be the girl who never settles in anything- work, love, life, or otherwise.

Be the girl who travels, unless of course, traveling isn’t for you. In which case, be the person you want to be, and be it fully. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

image – Danka Peter

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