If there's one thing that I inherited from my mom, besides freckles that love to peek out in the summer, it's an abundance of wanderlust. From a young age, she had taken me on many trips with our family and just the two of us. We've been practically everywhere together— New York, Phoenix, Barcelona, Nashville, and Honduras to name a few places. This inevitably led to my yearning for travel by myself, because let's be honest, traveling with parents is fun and exciting, but not as much as it can be when alone.

About a year ago, I had decided that in the time between my finals in May and graduation in June I was going to take a trip by myself. Through much consideration and contemplation I had decided on sunny California because I had never been on the West Coast, and that I would be there for two and a half weeks. As having just become an "adult" by turning 18, this was a daunting trip, even with all of the experience I have under my belt. I would truly be alone without my mom to go and explore with, and although I put on a pretty good front when it came to my personal anxieties about traveling by myself, I still cried when my mom dropped me off to the airport (sometimes a good cry is necessary).

So, how did I spend 17 days in California? The answer is simple: I explored. I hiked, shopped, biked, tried new food, took buses to San Francisco and San Diego— what I did on this trip could be an entire article in itself, but that's not what this is about. I'm going to get deep here, so hang in with me, and maybe I can help to inspire or motivate you, or maybe you'll think I'm a crazy hippy. I've come to terms with both. How I spent my time in California is important, I won't deny that. It's what most people ask about when they hear about the trip, though I would argue it's not the absolute most important thing about my trip. What's most important is what I learned from other people and about myself.

I'd constantly heard about people who travel to "find themselves", but don't think that was the goal of this trip, it was to get out of Cleveland and clear my head. Before my trip I'd thought taking a soul quest of sorts was a load of nonsense, little did I know that this was exactly what my trip would turn into.

During my trip I had met a couple of women who had or had wanted to quit their jobs. Throughout their lives they had followed a traditional path: they had gone to school and earned "good" degrees, "well paying" jobs, and "nice" homes. Sounds like the American dream right? Except there was one common theme throughout these very stereotypical stories, NONE OF THEM WERE HAPPY. What these women had been taught from a young age is often what most Americans are taught, you graduate high school, go to college, and get a job directly after. Except what if that doesn't make you happy? What if your passion isn't something you can go to school for?

I want to take a second to talk about one of those women I mentioned earlier, her name is Chelsea. If I remember correctly, she's 27 and two months ago she quit her job as a neonatal nurse to become a yoga teacher. She's not crazy, she told me she realized she was unhappy and tried to find what made her want to wake up every morning and get out of bed, and that's what becoming a yoga teacher did for her.

Chelsea and the rest of the women led me to think about my own future following that same path of degree, job, home. It made me contemplate whether or not to continue my educational career at The Ohio State University in the fall. The problem I have with this is that there's nothing that I can go to OSU for, that I'm also passionate about, and that I also think is worth the tuition money. There's currently only one thing I'm completely in love with, and that's my photography. You may be asking yourself, "But can't you get a degree in photography?", and that answer would be yes, but it is not essential to becoming a successful photographer.

Another thing often mentioned when I tell people I aspire to be a photographer is that it's unrealistic and unachievable. Madonna, Andy Warhol, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Picasso, and every other successful artist started out as no one. They all came out of the womb as a "normal person" who had a dream that they pursued, and they were successful. It's that simple. It didn't happen overnight, for some people it didn't even happen in their lifetime, but they put in the work and pursued what they loved, and they became prosperous because of it, so why can't that be me?

What I've learned from in the experience of traveling by myself is that it's okay to not follow a traditional path. Pursue what you love, even if it scares you senseless. You only get a limited amount of time on this earth, so don't waste it with "What ifs." Whatever it is in life that you wish to find, find it, whatever you lust to do, do it, and whatever you long to try, try it. Life won't hold back for you.

Most importantly, listen to yourself. Listen to your gut and do what you think is right for yourself. Don't live your life for anyone else, you'll just end up unhappy. There's only one person who knows you completely, and that's you. Don't take yourself for granted, and forever strive to be the youest you that you can possible be.