When I was 16, I was told that I should travel as much as I can when I'm young. Naturally, I didn't think anything of it. It seemed like such a simple statement at the time; "If you can travel when you are young, travel."

The person who told me to do so was someone who was well-traveled and a person that I trusted wholeheartedly. She was my mentor, advice giver and English teacher. She had been to multiple countries and done some pretty outrageous things. She swam with sharks in South Africa, held a koala in Australia and hung out with crocodiles; she was pretty much all about adventure.

I never actually questioned why I traveled until a couple of days ago, while I was sitting in the Charlotte, North Carolina airport, waiting to board a nine-hour flight to Madrid; one of the three flights I had to take in order to get to Palestine to visit family. I sat there thinking about everything and anything, and the topic of that person came up and what she had told me a while ago. That's when I realized; I travel because I want to live. Life is full of excitement, experiences, and learning, as is traveling; it's full of adventure.

Adventure is something that I enjoy partaking in because I get to push myself out of my comfort zone. If you know me, you know that I hate getting out of my comfort zone, due to it being this scary, horrible thing. I don't like change, or having to get used to different things, but usually, when I push myself out of my zone, I end up enjoying myself. While going off on adventures, I also get the benefits that come with it; experiences and learning.

Experience is something that most come by in life, but let pass by. People are busy doing things, like work, school, and otherwise. The problem is, people want you to have experience when you apply for a job, school or otherwise. That’s why when I get asked to go on trips, to go places, I say, “YES!” Experiences are not something that you can gain by just sitting at home, you have to "get out there" and "get out of your comfort zone". By going on trips, you gain experience through doing things that you wouldn’t normally be doing (adventure/pushing yourself) and also through learning.

I was raised in a family that pushed for the idea of education and learning, whether it be in an educational setting or out in the world. Whenever there was an opportunity to travel or do something out of the ordinary at school, or in general, I was encouraged to partake in it by my parents. They did this because they wanted me to learn something from it. I learned a lot of life lessons, tools and techniques from my travels to Europe, and the Middle East. After all, don't they say, "Life's a playground. Go play in it."

Life is all about lessons and learning, so why not embrace it?

I've found that in order to actually "live," one must push themselves, and put themselves into situations that they would normally would not be in. By doing so, you learn and experience things about yourself, the world and its people. I, frankly, think that's a reward in and of itself.