The Passion Within Me

I'm not sure when the passion started. I'm also not sure why it started. But ever since I can remember, my biggest passion has been seeing the world.

Did it start by my urge for diversity in my hometown of rural MN? Did it start when I lived with exchange students from Norway in College? Did it start by my passion for foreign languages? I can't pinpoint the exact moment it started, but it's a burning passion in my life. I think it always will be.

I received my first passport when I was 21 years old. The only other country I had been to before that was Canada. Those were the pre 9/11 days, when we could travel to Canada with just a license or birth certificate, therefore I never had the need for a passport.

The circumstances around why I got a passport to begin with are a bit tragic, but at the same time, that "tragedy" is also the reason my life is the way it is now. Therefore, I'm glad it happened. Let's just say I applied for a passport for a very specific reason, and that reason didn't work out. One day in college, I went to check my mail like I did every day, and in my mailbox was my very first passport. I completely forgot I had even applied for a passport because it had been at least 2 months prior.

So, here I was. 21 years old, a passport in hand, a heart that needed mending, and no where to go. That changed quickly when an opportunity presented itself by my wonderful relative MG, who was living in Holland at the time with her family. My Grandma wanted to go visit MG in Holland, but didn't feel comfortable traveling there alone. NO PROBLEM. I agreed to travel with my Grandma there. My mom decided she wouldn't mind the vacation either, so she met my Grandma and I there.

I stayed a month, and it was a wonderful, healing, life changing trip! I spent many days in Amsterdam, where a few Norwegian friends met me from Norway. I also spent many days in other parts of Holland. Then a few of us took a ferry over the English Channel and spent a few days in London. I remember sitting on a bench in Hyde Park in London, and just people watching. The manerisms of people were different, the fashion was different, people in general were thinner, their disposition was different. I was enthralled with all of it. At night, I would go out on the town and engage locals in conversation. I was always amazed at how worldly these "foreigners" were. They knew details about America, yet I couldn't tell them anything about their country. I couldn't tell them who the president of Holland was? Or if they had a parliament? Yet these people knew so much about my country, and of the countries of the world.

That's when I realized how isolated I felt here in America. I was so focused learning about American history, that I didn't know about the history of the world. It was at that point I made it my goal to learn as much as possible about different countries. . . their culture, their politics, their people. Sometimes I wonder if there would be more world peace if more people had passports. Traveling has taught me so much about different countries and it's made me realize how many similarities we all have.

I left Holland and England a month later, and I felt like a new person. My life's passion was ignited, and I felt whole. My first trip abroad became the first of many. I couldn't get enough of it. For the first time in my life, I felt like a world citizen, instead of just an American citizen. Obviously, I will always identify myself as American, because that is what I am. But I am not just American. I am part of a much greater whole. And although I am very proud of who I am and where I am from, I do sometimes wonder if I was born in the wrong place? Or am living in the wrong era?

T and I dream about living abroad someday, but for now, I will quench my thirst with my travels. In a little over a week, T and I will depart for our next adventure. And when the monkey is with us, we look forward to travels as a whole family.

I leave you with some of my favorite travel pictures.

CANADA

ENGLAND

HOLLAND

ESTONIA

FINLAND

RUSSIA

PORTUGAL

NORWAY

SWEDEN

BELIZE

MEXICO

EGYPT

Is there anywhere you've ever wanted to travel to? Is there somewhere you've been that you would highly recommend?