In the last few days some friends shared a
text that could be the history of this blog. That’s the reason why we have to
share here as well!
That’s originally from the blog: Where Are My Heels
Date A Boy Who Travels
Date a boy who travels.
Date a boy who treasures experience over toys, a hand-woven bracelet over a
Rolex. Date the boy who scoffs when he hears the words, “vacation”,
“all-inclusive” or “resort”. Date a boy who travels because he’s not blinded by
a single goal but enlivened by many.
You might find him in an
airport or at a book store browsing the travel guides – although he “only uses
them for reference.”
You’ll know it’s him
because when you peek at his computer screen his background will be a scenic
splendor of rolling hills, mountains, or prayer flags. His Facebook friend
count will be over-the-roof and his wall will be plastered with the broken
English ‘miss-you’ of friends he met along the way. When he travels he makes lifelong
friends in an hour. And although contact with these friends is sporadic and may
be far-between his bonds are unmessable and if he wanted he could couch surf
the world… again.
Buy him a beer. Maybe the
same brand that he wears on the singlet under his plaid shirt, unable to truly
let go. Once a traveller gets home people rarely listen to their stories. So
listen to him. Allow him to paint a picture that brings you into his world. He
might talk fast and miss small details because he’s so excited to be heard.
Bask in his enthusiasm. Want it for yourself.
He’ll squeak like an
excited toddler when his latest issue of National Geographic arrives in the
mail. Then he’ll grow quiet, engrossed, until he finishes his analysis of every
photo, every adventure. In his mind he’ll insert himself in these pictures. He’ll
pass the issue on to you and grill you about your dreams and competitively ask
about the craziest thing you’ve ever done. Tell him. And know that he’ll
probably win. And if by chance you win, know that his next lot in life will be
to out do you. But then he’ll say, “Maybe we can do it together.”
Date the boy who talks of
distant places and whose hands have explored the stone relics of ancient
civilizations and whose mind has imagined those hands carving, chiseling,
painting the wonders of the world. And when he talks it’s as if he’s reliving
it with you. You can almost hear his heart racing. You can almost feel the
adrenaline ramped up by the moment. You feel it passing through his synapsis, a
feast to his eyes entering through those tiny oracles of experience that we
call pupils, digesting rapidly through his veins, manifesting into his nervous
system, transforming and altering his worldview like a reverse trauma and
finally passing but forever changing the colors of his sight. (Unless he’s Karl
Pilkington.) You will want this too.
Date a boy who’s lived out
of a backpack because he lives happily with less. A boy who’s travelled has
seen poverty and dined with those who live in small shanties with no running
water, and yet welcome strangers with greater hospitality than the rich. And
because he’s seen this he’s seen how a life without luxury can mean a life
fueled by relationships and family rather than a life that fuels fancy cars and
ego. He’s experienced different ways of being, respects alternative religions
and he looks at the world with the eyes of a five-year-old, curious and hungry.
Your dad will be happy too because he’s good with money and knows how to
budget.
This boy relishes home; the
comfort of a duvet, the safety stirred in a mom-cooked meal, the easy
conversation of childhood friends and the immaculate glory of the flush-toilet.
Although fiercely independent, he has had time to reflect on himself and his
relationships. Despite his wanderlust he knows and appreciates his ties to
home. He has had a chance to miss and be missed. Because of this he also knows
a thing or two about goodbyes. He knows the overwhelming uncertainty of leaving
the comforts of home, the indefinite see-you-laters at the departure gates and
yet he fearlessly goes into the unknown because he knows the feeling of return.
And that the I’ve-missed-you-hug is the best type of hug in the whole world. He
also knows that goodbyes are just prolonged see-you-laters and that ‘hello’ is
only as far away as the nearest internet cafe.
Don’t hold onto this boy.
Let this boy go and go with him. If you haven’t travelled, he will open your
eyes to a world beyond the news and popular perception. He will open your
dreams to possibility and reality. He will calm your nerves when you’re about
to miss a flight or when your rental blows a flat, because he knows the journey
is the adventure. He will make light of the unsavory noises you make when you –
and you will – get food poisoning. He will make you laugh through the
discomfort all while dabbing your forehead with a cold cloth and nursing you
with bottled water. He will make you feel like you’re home.
When you see something
beautiful he will hold your hand in silence, in awe the history of where his
feet stand and the fact that you’re with him.
He will live in every
moment with you because this is how he lives his life. He understands that
happiness is no more than a string of moments that displace neutrality and he
is determined to tie as many of these strings together as he can. He also understands
your need to live for yourself and that you have a bucketlist of your own.
Understand his. Understand that your goals may at some points differ but that
independence is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship when it’s mutually
respected. You may lose him for a bit but he will always come home bearing a
new story and a souvenir he picked up because it reminded him of you, like it
was made for you and because he missed you. You might be compelled to do the
same. Make sure that independence is on your bucketlist and make sure it’s
checked. Independence will keep your relationship fresh and exciting and when
you’re together again it will forge a bond of unbreakable trust.
He’ll propose when you’ve
breached your comfort-zone, whether it be a fear like skydiving or swimming
with sharks or sitting next to the smelly person on an overcrowded bus. It
won’t be with a diamond ring but with a token from a native culture or inspired
by nature, like the penguin and the pebble.
You will get married
somewhere unassumed, surrounded by a select few in a moment constructed to
celebrate venturing into the unknown together again. Marry the boy who’s
travelled and together you will make the whole world your home. Your honeymoon
will not be forgotten to a buffet dinner and all-you-can-drink beach bars, but
will be remembered in the triumphant photographs at the top of Kilimanjaro and
memorialized in the rewarding ache of muscles at the end of a long days hike.
When you’re ready you will
have children that have the names of the characters you met on your journeys,
the foreign names of people who dug a special place in your heart if only for a
few days. Perhaps you will live in another country and your children will learn
of language and customs that open their minds from the very start, leaving no
room for prejudice. He will introduce them to the life of Hemingway, the
journey of Santiago, and empower them to live even bigger than both of you.
Marry a boy who travels and
he’ll teach your children the beauty of a single stone, the history of the
Incas and he will instill in them the bravery of possibility. He will explain
to them that masking opportunity there is fear. He will teach them to concur
it.
And when you’re old you’ll
sit with your grandchildren pouring over your photo albums and chest of worldly
treasures while they too insert themselves into your photographs, sparked by
the beauty of the world and inspired by your life in it.
Find a boy who travels
because you deserve a life of adventure and possibility. You deserve to live
light and embrace simplicity. You deserve to look at life through the eyes of
youth and with your arms wide open. Because this is where you will find joy.
And better, you will find joy together. And if you can’t find him, travel. Go.
Embrace it. Explore the world for yourself because dreams are the stuff reality
is made from.
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