Wanderlustering

I am having a serious case of wanderlust. All I want to do is design stuff, eat my body weight in sweets (without gaining that amount of course) and travel the world.

QueenstownQueenstown, New Zealand / October 2013

I read an article (that I can’t seem to find) about how people who travel are never content with where they are. That is exactly me.

I think about what it would be like to live in a different city. I’m constantly looking up road trips across the US and what kind of weird and wacky things are along the way. I have a constantly growing wish list of places around the world I want to see/visit. I’m always tempted to take a chunk of my savings, buy plane tickets to some far away land and spring a trip on Tim. I keep track of how long it’s been since my last trip and have a countdown until the next one.

hawaiiTop of the Haleakala Volcano in Maui, Hawaii at sunrise / September 2010

Speaking of next trip, Tim booked a long weekend getaway to Chicago in August for my birthday. I’m also planning on flying out to San Francisco in November to visit a good friend of mine that just moved there. Knowing these two trips are in the foreseeable future is certainly helping my wanderlusting.

NotreDameParisTrying to get a picture in front of the Notre Dame in Paris / May 2009

I’m no where near having a “world traveler” status, but that’s what I want to work towards during my life. I not only want to see these other places, but I want to actually learn about the culture. Eat the local food. Walk down quieter streets that aren’t filled with tourists just to look at the buildings and architecture. To go on hikes and explore the landscape. I could fill an entire post with places and things I want to see and experience.

But until then, I need to learn to be patient.

Traveling requires time and money…two things that a 26 year old trying to pay off student and car loans while establishing her career doesn’t have a lot of.

GardenOfTheGodsSiamese Twins, Garden of the Gods outside Colorado Springs, CO / June 2012

I also need to learn to be more content with where I am in the present.

Stop dwelling on that fact that it’s been five years since I’ve been to Europe, and dream a little less of the day I get to return (cough*2016*cough).

It will happen in due time…at the right time.

I came across another article while I was looking for the one I mentioned above (I may keep looking for future reference), and there was a section that really rang true to me.

We all seem to be victims of ignoring what’s actually happening right at this very moment, which is only natural when we have so many choices and opportunities available to us.

We can all forget the whole point of happiness, and that’s peace of mind, acceptance, and mindfulness. Essentially, it’s being happy no matter where you are in the world, or what you’re doing, or whom you’re with.

Being mindful quiets the mind and brings us a sense of peace that no other quest for a “perfect life” could ever bring.

Mindfulness helps you to appreciate life as it happens. It stops us from agonizing over what might’ve been or what could be. It just brings us back to the present.

Yes—embrace everything that comes along. Yes—go out and see the world and enjoy everything this life has to offer.

But whenever you feel yourself losing focus and wondering about where you’ll be happy next, bring yourself back to the present, look at what you already have, look around you and enjoy the moments that are happening right now.

I’m not necessarily looking for happiness in other places—I have more than enough here in St. Louis—but I know how happy it makes me feel when I do get to explore and experience other places. I’ll never stop having that wanderlust feeling. I can only hope to cross off as many places as I can from my list in my lifetime.

—m.