A man is sleeping with his neighbor's wife. Suddenly they hear the front door open - the husband is back. "Quick," the wife says, "in the closet." The husband comes into the bedroom, kisses his wife and opens his closet. "Joe! What are you doing here?" Joe shrugs, "I gotta be somewhere."
Everybody has to be somewhere. For a lot of people, that somewhere will rarely change, and even more rarely radically change. And if you like where you are, and who you're with and what you do, maybe there's no reason to move and leave all those things that constitute your life behind. But for me, I've discovered a more macro, impartial outlook on life. I've spent all my life living in the United States - why? Yes it's home, and nothing will ever change that, but it's just one country among many in this great big world. My strong connection to this awesome country shouldn't blind me from the rest of the world. So I see a map and all I look at are places I haven't been and I want to diversify. There are so many sights I've never seen, so many things I haven't done. The US is only a small part of the world, it needn't been the only part of my world.
It's like someone who grew up never eating chocolate. If you never tasted it then you don't know what you're missing. So the person without chocolate could feel perfectly content, and may be skinnier and have less cavities for his troubles. But wouldn't eating chocolate, that first bite of milky brown goodness, add some happiness to his life? Chocolate might never have been something this person ever desired, but upon tasting it he finds himself in a slightly richer and fuller life and will inevitably want more. Traveling is the same way. It might not be something you're aware of, but once you get exposed to the wonders of travel, the blinds are permanently lifted and you transcend into some higher dimension with more countries, cuisines, languages, currencies and concepts you previously didn't realize existed.
Everybody has to be somewhere. This somewhere can be home, and for most people, their current location will eventually asymptote into a (more or less) permanent home. The ideas and experiences gained from traveling often don't resonate until you are displaced from where these experiences took place. It's easy to go somewhere fabulous and come back and tell people all about it. This was precisely my modus operandi right after I got back from study abroad. "Oh Prague is absolutely gorgeous during all times of the day. The Guinness in Ireland is way better than it is here. I could've spent a day inside the Vatican." That's cool and interesting and whatnot and I'm sure all my friends whom I made listen to me were at least mildly interested. But those experiences aren't truly meaningful until they're gone from the surface of your memory and been internalized into who you are. It's the surprise feeling months or years later where something comes up and you realize, "Oh yeah. I have been to Prague." You're at a bar with friends and sip your draught and understand, "Yes the Guinness isn't quite the same here." You walk into an art gallery and recall, "Painted ceilings really are inspirational."
Because anybody can go to a place and tell you what's there. There's nothing really special about you having been to Paris. Anybody else can go and duplicate your trip, see the same Louvre, go to the top of the same Eiffel Tower, eat the same croissant. The fact that you've been to Paris isn't intrinsically special - it usually just means that you're fortunate.
What's special is what you take from the experience and what you went through in the process. Yes anyone can go to Paris but not everyone will experience it the same way. One person might understand and appreciate the Gothic architecture, another might love the theater scene, another the Nutella crepes and another the Algerian influence. One person I met booked a hostel for only two of the three nights he was there and spent a night homeless in a park. Another friend was prevented from flying in from Rome because of a strike and had to take a a last minute crowded train. Going to Paris is cool and special because it is a great city conducive to visitors coming out with a great experience, whether you're a conqueror from Corsica or a backpacker from Belmont.
The funny thing about traveling is that though it's something many people look forward to and spend a lot of money on, it's not always fun at the time. In fact a necessary component of travel is that one is taken outside of their comfort zone. Nearly all travelers will live more comfortably at home. A fun trip usually involves walking a lot, waking up early, staying in uncomfortable accommodations, having difficulty finding good food, going through transportation hassles and braving the unknown. But what really makes traveling isn't just the great sights that make you happy you waited in line or woke up early, but the contentment derived from the trip long after it is over. Simply put, it really makes me happy knowing that I've been to the places I've been. I will have to think more about this contentment to truly discover its source, but it exists and it is the main reason I travel.
So be somewhere and be there with a purpose. You'll learn more about the world and you'll learn more about yourself.
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