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Traveling - It's in my blood?


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CrystalShine2011

I was curious to see if anyone else had this feeling that I also have: the need to travel the world! When I travel, I feel free. It occupies my mind everyday. Most of my money goes towards trips or future trips (so far only to the U.S and Canada) and currently saving up to go to Paris, Dublin, and Prague. I've even been taking French for 6 years in anticipation for my travels to France! I have felt the need to travel places and experience culture since I was very young.

 

I could also never date anyone that saw themselves settling down for "good" in one spot. Luckily, my current boyfriend and I are both freelancers.

 

SO. Is anyone currently living this lifestyle? Did you end up finding a place that you DID settle down in? What was your favorite place you did travel to?

 

Thanks! :)

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SO. Is anyone currently living this lifestyle?
Not currently, no. I'm positioning for retirement so am focused on those aspects, having done a lot of traveling in my life already.
Did you end up finding a place that you DID settle down in?
Not there yet but should be securing property and moving my business to the coastal forests of Oregon this year. I'll be heading up there in the next week again to touch base with other businesses and my realtor.
What was your favorite place you did travel to?

 

I'd say it'd be a tossup between the month I spent in six countries in Africa about 20 years ago and a targeted trip to the south and west of Ukraine a few years after that. Different focuses and different memories, but the cultural differences, language differences, art and 'feel' probably account for the choice.

 

I've been to all the continents, save for Antarctica, but probably have spent the most time in Europe and Australia.

 

A saying I came up with when traveling for fun and for respite while caregiving was that 'anyplace in the world is one sleep away' so I'd find a good deal, hop on a plane and be on the other side of the planet when I woke up. Stay a day or two then sleep to somewhere else, etc, etc. Sometimes, the people I met while getting there were as much fun and as memorable as the destination itself.

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Eternal Sunshine

I am not living that lifestyle but I can't spend more than a few years in one city without feeling an overwhelming need to move. I don't feel like any place is my home, but on first visit I felt a huge affinity with my current city :love:

 

I also need to plan a few trips each year to be happy. Lucky for me that I am a researcher so I get paid trips to conferences all over the world. This year I am looking forward to going to Amsterdam, Denver and Vancouver :cool:

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I was curious to see if anyone else had this feeling that I also have: the need to travel the world! When I travel, I feel free. It occupies my mind everyday. Most of my money goes towards trips or future trips (so far only to the U.S and Canada) and currently saving up to go to Paris, Dublin, and Prague. I've even been taking French for 6 years in anticipation for my travels to France! I have felt the need to travel places and experience culture since I was very young.

 

I could also never date anyone that saw themselves settling down for "good" in one spot. Luckily, my current boyfriend and I are both freelancers.

 

SO. Is anyone currently living this lifestyle? Did you end up finding a place that you DID settle down in? What was your favorite place you did travel to?

 

Thanks! :)

 

I have a cousin who is a year younger than me who traveled immediately after graduating college so he could tryout for some minor league soccer teams in London. He only had a partial scholarship to play from his small school on the west coast so he wasn't a star or anything. From what my family tells me he was pretty decent, but wouldn't make it in any of the big European leagues or even MLS. He majored in something ridiculous too and was basically just in school to play soccer.

 

To afford the trip he went and blew all of his savings bonds which our grandma had been buying for us since we were born. Most of the bonds aren't even close to fully maturing which wasn't wise at all I think. To make it cheaper he ended up staying with this girl that he had been banging in the states who moved over there also for her job.

 

He ended up not making either team and now has to fall back on his degree which isn't going to get him very far. It's a pretty awesome story I think; Finishing school, getting to go to London to tryout for semi pro soccer teams all while staying with your old squeeze from back home.

 

The thing is if you are young and can afford it then I think that is the time to travel. He did however blow thousands of dollars and didn't make either club so that suck, but I suppose the experience was a once in a life time type of thing.

 

I'm much more conservative and probably wouldn't have gone if I were in his shoes. I will travel after I become settled in my career and actually have the money to do so one day.

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CrystalShine2011

Awesome to all posts above!!

 

I really love hearing travel stories...there are so many places that one could go and deciding is tough!

 

:)

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i think everyone that love traveling need to go there because you have a mix of everything. Thai people are nice and helpful you can have delicious street food for 1$, beaches and island are breathtaking and crazy big partys!

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I like traveling but I also like a place I can call home and have big shelf to put all the stuff I collected during my travels.

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i did have this feeling and sated it by going on tons of trips in my lifetime. then i realized the trips and the "getting away" were being used an escape from my real life, and that although i liked travelling, i needed to be more settled. lots of people love to travel and explore, and it is a form of escapism for a while, but it won't allow you to escape from your life unless it is your life a la Anthony Bourdain, Rick Steves, etc. most people find a happy medium - a "regular" job with enough income and VC days to let them wander when they want. far fewer people can have the luxury of being nomadic around the world. but, best to do it young because as age advances the ability to go off and see the world for months on end declines.

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All these stories are incredible and make me sad at the same time, because I stopped believing that something like that still exists today (or at least it's very very rare).

 

My grandma recently died as well, my grandpa and her were married for 59 years, dating 65 years (started dating when she was 14 and he 17).

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Not everyone can be a nomad. Most people have jobs and/or other obligations that they have to be there for in person. I get 2 weeks paid vacation time and that's about it for me for overseas vacation time. I don't have one of those jobs that needs me to travel. If I want plenty of overseas vacations, I will have to wait until retirement.

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SearchingForMyself

im homeless...but I do love to walk around and see sights.

 

your feet are KILLING YOU, but your soul is always occupied.

 

you dont need money to travel, but it does help

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CrystalShine2011

I also travel because I feel like it's a part of me and not because I'm running from anything. :)

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I'm 24 years old and I've been to 65 countries, lived in about 10 of them. I travel for my work so it makes things easier but, yes, once you take that first step, there's no turning back, bud. You will just want more of it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I'm 24 years old and I've been to 65 countries, lived in about 10 of them. I travel for my work so it makes things easier but, yes, once you take that first step, there's no turning back, bud. You will just want more of it.

 

That sounds great. I am 35 and have only visited 11. However, I have lived in one of those coutries for more than 3 years, and another for over 4 years.

 

You are quite young to have already travelled to so many countries already (nice one BTW), but it makes me wonder how long does one need to stay in a certain location in order to say they have actually 'lived' there?

 

And to the OP, just go for it! Just be sure you don't get the 'bug' so much that you end up 35 yo with no career or property etc. Time flies when you are expolring all that this planet has to discover.

 

On that note I am heading abroad next week. Just got my Visa :D

 

(this is my 1st post on here BTW. Looks like a nice community)

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Nikki Sahagin

I've been travelling for 2 years. Settled in NZ at the moment. Still have the urge to travel! My grandfather was a sailor, always moving, so maybe it is in my blood? I get antsy if I stay in 1 place too long. I want to see the world.

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Standard-Fare

I don't think anybody on their death bed is thinking, "I wish I'd traveled less."

 

Seeing as much of the world as you can (within the bounds of your own financial restraints and other obligations) is an important priority when you have one short life to live. I actually don't understand people who DON'T think this way.

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OP, I also feel like travelling is in my blood. :p

 

My last bf didn't understand it, I guess he thought it was just something I wanted to do but didn't get that it was very very important to me. It's not something I want to do, it's a passion and I feel like my life would be incomplete without it. I wouldn't be able to settle for a short trip once every couple years... it's something that I need to work into my life.

 

I suppose it's also because my field is languages/translation, so I feel like not travelling would be a waste of all I have learned over the years.

 

Currently, I'm working in the airline industry, so hopefully I will start travelling more regularly soon. :)

 

Most of my travelling has been in Europe... I spent my 3rd year of university studying abroad in Germany and I feel like that experience changed my life and how I view many things, including my own cultural identity. You should really try travelling to another continent. There's a lot to see in North America, but it's far more exciting once you step out of your cultural and linguistic comfort zone. :)

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