(Originally posted on October 4, 2024)
While reflecting on this little project, I kept asking myself where to start? Should I start with a reflection on one of my past trips or one about my most recent trip? Or maybe I should just start with a reason for my love of travel. But, as all of these ideas floated around in the busy space that is my mind, I settled on probably the easiest one of all – why I decided to start this blog now!
So, why now? And what are my goals with this blog?
There's no straightforward answer. And there are many rabbit holes that are calling me. But here's the simple answer – I love travelling and writing. So why not combine both!
Ever since I was a kid, I've been interested in the world. Whether history, culture, customs, food, art, languages, or architecture, I love learning about and experiencing it in person.
Standing in front of a pyramid
Like many people of a certain age ahem, millennials, ahem, I went through a phase of Egyptology. I remember being around 8 years old, we had just moved to a new city in a whole other province. Up until that point, we had always stayed in places where everything felt the same. But here, it was a CITY, not just a town. There were so many buildings and different people. On my first day of school, I met children who didn't look like me. I was introduced to diversity. And I revelled in it!
I loved seeing all the different foods the kids had in their lunches and secretly wished I could taste them (I didn't want to be impolite and ask if I could taste their food). And going to birthday parties and seeing different traditions just intrigued me so much. And it made me look at my own family's traditions and think how boring they all were.
Then, my parents took me to the Canadian History Museum. That was the beginning of it all. Almost thirty years later, I remember the feeling I got when I received my "Passport." It was like a game; you had to go to all the exhibits and get a stamp. It started off as a game but quickly turned into something else. I was learning about all these places and cultures. When I finally got to the Pyramids, something inside me opened up. I wanted to know everything about Egypt's history, including hieroglyphics, the Pharaohs, Gods, etc. That year, for Christmas, I received my very own Hieroglyphics kit – stamps with a symbol of letters in the Greco-Roman alphabet. I wrote out pages and pages of messages with those stamps. I remember wanting to grow up to be either an Egyptologist or a writer.
Well, I didn't study Egyptology, but here I am writing this, so, I guess, mission accomplished? I did go on to study Literature, History, and Mythology, so I'm not that far off either.
I'm sharing this to explain where my love of learning about places and cultures came from. It did not happen overnight as I entered adulthood; it's been brewing inside of me for a long time.
Growing up, I didn't know what travelling entailed. For me, travelling as a child and teenager was "road tripping." But as I grew older, I started travelling a bit more. The first few trips as a teenager and young adults were resort travel.
But then, I started exploring more and moving away from resorts. I wanted to see the "real" world. Not the diluted, marketed, capitalist travel of staying in a resort.
Don't get me wrong—if you want to lie on a beach, relax, and not have to worry about meal prep, resorts can be a good thing. But there needs to be education that resorts do not equate to being exposed to what is specific to a country. And if you like resort travelling, then props to you for knowing yourself well.
But I want more than that. I like to explore and learn, so this is the concept that I will try to focus on in this blog.
As this is my first post, I am still figuring out where I am going, but travel is the journey I wish to embark on.
Selfie in front of the Louvre
I don't necessarily want to limit myself, as I've done different types of travelling—couples, family, kid-friendly, solo. I've done hotels, hostels, resorts, cruises, and property rentals. Funnily enough, I've gained the reputation of being the traveller in my circles. One of the first questions I get asked is, "Where are you going next?"
One thing is for certain—I love to travel. When I travel, I feel most like myself, which is probably why I crave it so much.
So, with this idea, I'm closing out my first post, and I will open it to you.
Where are you going next?
Jess