Life moves fast. So fast that sometimes it's easy to lose track of everything you've done and focus on everything you still want to do. I've been so lucky in my life to be able to do many things and go many places, yet I still find myself describing my life as boring and uninteresting. When my mom recently said to me, "Wow, you've had a quite eventful last four years," I looked at her like she was crazy. What have I done in the last four years that's anything special? Then I realized, I've done so much.
In the last four years, I've found myself going on countless trips and vacations with family and with friends, both educational and for fun. In the moment, a week feels like much longer than it is, and a month feels like a lifetime, but it all moves so quickly. Taking inventory on my adventures in the past four years alone, I've been all over New York from the Adirondacks to New York City to Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. I visited New Jersey, Boston, Florida, New Orleans, Maryland and Virginia. I've spent a summer in Washington D.C. and a month in Barcelona, Spain. I flew to London for a weekend and visited the south of France. I paddle boarded in Mexico and watched Taylor Swift perform in Toronto. Each of these places has played a role in who I am now and how I look at the world. I know how fortunate I am to have had these travel experiences so I'd like to share some of the most important lessons I've learned.
1. Exploring is scary but important.
My first year of college I went to school on Long Island, only a 30-minute train ride from the city that never sleeps, and while I certainly didn't find myself in New York City every weekend, I was able to make the trip quite a few times during the year. I learned a lot that year that at the time seemed simple and not that important, but looking back now I realize there are people who've never even been to New York City or don't get to go until they're grown adults. Going to NYC is somewhat intimidating, but going there freshman year taught me how to figure things out. I learned about public transportation, which helped me feel confident in my travels down the road. I figured out how to navigate the Long Island Railroad and the difference between on-peak and off-peak times. I finally got some understanding of the New York subway system, and most importantly, I realized there's way more than Times Square in Manhattan. I can't say that it was easy, and I'd be lying if I told you we didn't get on the wrong train a time or two, but being young and exploring places (new and old) teaches you about people, life, and most importantly, how to figure things out on your own.
When I transferred colleges to Rochester, N.Y. I worried that I may have limited myself when it came to the adventures I still wanted to have. I was wrong.
2. You can still have adventures no matter where you are.
While there is no city quite like New York City right outside Rochester, living in the 585 has led me to Philadelphia during my stint on the rowing team and to Buffalo to cheer on the Bills. It led me to Canada to see the Niagara Falls and then on to see Taylor Swift in the 1989 World Tour. Traveling to big cities and going on adventures isn't necessarily as convenient when you live in Western New York, but while you're further away from some places, you're closer to others. Without living in Rochester, I wouldn't have ever cared about the Buffalo Bills, but those games were some of my best memories. The thing is, there is this pressure to move to a big city post graduation and while this is absolutely something I want to do, I realize now that adventures can still happen. It doesn't really matter where you are geographically.
3. Take advantage of the opportunities.
The summer's I spent in Washington D.C. and Barcelona taught me one of the most important lessons of all, and that's to take advantage of the opportunity while you're somewhere new. When you're actually living somewhere you take each day in stride and might get lost in the fact that you're only there temporarily. Make it your mission to try and do things you can only do in that specific place. Whenever you go someplace new, whether it's for a long weekend or an entire summer, do research before hand. Make a list of places you want to go, restaurants you want to eat at and activities you want to try. Make it a goal to take as many pictures as you can no matter how touristy it may be. Experience as much as you can and remember every moment of it. There are so many occasions where it would be easy to eat dinner at that chain restaurant because you're hungry and you know it's good or times when you explored the bars a little too hard and getting out of bed is feeling rough. But I promise you getting out of bed is worth it. If I've learned anything on all my adventures it's that they go quickly and once they're over you're going to miss them, so do all you can, while you can.
The point of this article isn't to show off all the places I've been or to brag about my travels. It's a reminder to everyone out there that life keeps moving and even when it might feel like you've got nothing interesting to share, you probably do. There's that Dr. Seuss story called "Oh The Places You'll Go" and I can't help but think of it now. I never thought that my early twenties would be so full of travel and exploration, but I can't help but let it influence my next move in life. As I graduation closes in, I look back and get excited for what's ahead because I have a feeling there's a lot more adventures coming my way.
