For as long as I can remember, I have been traveling. My family would take vacations in the summer; I would go on trips back to my home state of Kansas and occasionally; I would travel internationally. I never really thought much about it until I realized not a lot of my friends got to travel like that. It made me realize how lucky I am and how much I have learned from my travels.

When you’re a child, life is so visual. Unless you have seen something, it’s hard to imagine what it’s actually like. That’s how I was when I was young. When I first traveled overseas to go to England, I was so excited to meet new people and see everything yet I had no idea what to expect. I had never met a British person. When I imagined the streets of London, I couldn’t picture anyone to put on the streets. Did they look like us? We’re British people weird looking? Would they be able to tell I was American just by my face?

British people do, in fact, look just like Americans. When I look back on that day, those thoughts seem so silly to me and I’m very blessed to be able to say that. Traveling is such an important thing that not enough people get to experience. I have learned so much through my travels about people, cultures and life outside of New Hampshire. Every region of this country has it’s own rich culture and they are all so beautiful. If you go through life never leaving your home state or hometown you are missing out on so much.

Yes, traveling is expensive and time consuming, but it is so worth it. Both of my parents are teachers; I didn’t grow up with much money, but we saved up for trips and planned them so we didn’t have to be gone for too long but could still do everything we wanted. When I went overseas, I was 12 and was gone for nineteen days without my parents. It was terrifying and expensive but it was the trip of a lifetime. I will never forget that trip. I never learned so much about our world in the people that inhabit it in the twelve years I was in school than I did on that trip.

When you are young, you are so open to everything. You are like a sponge, ready to absorb anything life gives you. I have never learned more about myself and the world than when I travel. It’s surreal. Seeing the world really puts your own life into perspective. The problems that seem to plague your life become so trivial in the bustling streets of New York or on a ferry to Ireland. It’s so important to travel, it teaches you so much. Travel as much as you can, whether it's a trip to another state or another continent. Just do it. You won’t regret it.