I didn’t grow up traveling. The idea of traveling wasn’t even on my radar until I was well into college. Knowing that, it probably isn’t too shocking to hear that I didn’t see the ocean until I was 17 or fly on a plane until after I was 23.
This is by no means a sad story. On the contrary, my childhood was beautifully simplistic. I grew up in my grandparents backyard, hanging from water towers and riding my bike to the levee. A childhood similar to many people who call(ed) small farm towns like Des Arc, Arkansas their home.
Ironically enough, having not flown until later in life, my summers were spent at an airfield. My grandpa Cecil was an agricultural pilot (i.e. crop duster). He was still flying planes when I was in elementary school, so during the summers when grandma was babysitting we would take him lunch to the airfield. Sometimes he would fly his plane over the backyard in the afternoon while me and my sister were playing, despite knowing it would aggravate grandma. Even though he is retired now we still have pilots in the family – 3 generations strong.
Fast forward ~14 years and I met a man who planned to show me the world. One of the first questions I can remember Nik asking on our first date was what my #1 bucket list destination was. It could only be fate that my answer (Spain) was his first planned stop on a 30 day adventure through Europe after he graduated. Nik would take me on my first flight ever a year later.
Nervous is an understatement to what I felt on that flight. Northwest Arkansas (XNA) to Dallas (DFW) to Cancun (CUN) – my first flight route. The one that changed my life forever. Nik and I got engaged on that trip and we haven’t quit jumping on planes since.
It is hard to imagine now my life without travel. Marking off destinations on my bucket list is my favorite hobby. When I close my eyes and think about some of the singular greatest moments of my life so far, they have all been introduced to me through travel. Whether it is certain experiences, or places, or people that I have met, travel has enriched my life.
We all have a bucket list of places we want to go, things we want to do. We also all have a lot of excuses (some valid, others not) holding us back. It is never too late to start traveling. Let go, chase your travel dream and jump on that plane – see how it will change your life.
