Photo attribution to Toni Kaarttinen
I’ve lived in Europe and Asia. I’ve done a gap year. I’ve traveled to 20+ countries. Despite all of my international experience, if you were to point a gun in my face and force me to tell you why I travel or I will loose an eye, well I would have to embrace the piratehood and glitterize my eye patch.
Before I sat down to think this ‘why’ question through, it was like I was on auto-’travel’-pilot. I traveled because I traveled, that’s it. My cousin’s latest travel update is what forced me to think more introspectively about the core reason(s) of my travels.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to explore this topic further by asking my friends from all over the world why they find themselves traveling. I’m kicking off the series with my very own cousin, Mr. Lucas Franchi.
Rather than following the standard post college route, he decided to explore his ‘road less traveled’. He ventured out of the US, combining his love for languages, history and cultures, and became an ESL teacher in Asia. His one-year adventure that started in Southern China, turned into a three-year career that he hopes to continue building in Asia. Here is his answer to the ‘why’.
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4 years ago I didn’t know who I was or where I was going. I was single, lived at home, and really hated my job. The only thing that I had accomplished (in my mind at least) was that I’d finally graduated from college. But even that didn’t seem to special to me anymore.
To put it mildly, it was probably one of the lowest points of my entire life. Add the fact that I was eating myself into an early grave, and you can see the situation I was in. I was dying, and I knew it. My father had died of a sudden heart attack at 47; when I was 20. That’s where I was going, I’m certain of it. I needed to change but I had no idea how. Then, my guiding star arrived.
An old friend told me how she had just gotten back from China. She had been teaching English to little kids and absolutely loved it. I listended. I learned. And I thought…why not?
I’d never really been away from home before. College barely counted in my mind. The very idea of going to China scared me through and through. But I put on a brave face and left, leaving everything and everyone behind.
In China my resolve was tested every day. Nothing was as I expected, everything was different. Even going out for a pack of gum was an event. It was difficult to say the least.
But then I noticed something…I was smiling a lot more. More than I had in years. Even my mother said so, I would send her pictures and webcam with her on Skype; one of the first things she noticed was that I was smiling all the time.
I was still single, I was all alone in a foreign and very different country, I was working for barely any money….and I was happy, unbelievably happy. I was so happy that I was inspired to write; I’d never written anything in my life that wasn’t for school. I still write to this day.
After my year in China, I knew I could never go back home to my old job, so I didn’t. I stayed. I moved to Korea, found another job teaching, and I’m still doing that. I see more and more of the world each day.
In the last 4 years I’ve seen and done things beyond imagination.
I’ve ridden an elephant
Me and Tiger the elephant
eaten street food in 7 different countries
Tasty street food
and seen some of the Earth’s true wonders – both natural and man-made.
Beautiful ruins
I’ve met people from all over the world. Some were transient (meet, talk, and say bye) and others were lifers (meet, talk, keep talking, say bye, keep talking more, and never truly grow apart). They all taught me something and all affected me in some way. I will treasure all of them and never forget any.
My Singapore mates and fellow English teachers, Leigh Ann and John
My New Zealand mates and fellow zip-liners, Stacey and Joel
When Olga asked me to write a guest post, she told me to answer one simple question…Why do I travel.
Truth be told I’d never thought about it before, and I’ve been running the question around in my mind for days. But I think I’ve finally got it.
I travel, because it makes me feel alive.
I know what it’s like to feel dead inside; it’s as horrible a feeling as there is in the world. I haven’t felt that way in 4 years.
Why do I travel?
Because the air is sweeter.
Because the food tastes better.
Because the falls don’t hurt as much.
Because the highs are indescribable.
Because the lows aren’t all that bad.
Because the sights take my breath away.
Because the people are amazing.
When I am on the road I am fulfilled in a way I never knew before. I never want to lose that sensation.
I have absolutely loved every minute of it. On my last trip I even wrote a poem with that title.
I Loved Every Minute
If they ever write my story, have them say this:
I’ve met people from all over the world. Some were transient (meet, talk, and say bye) and others were lifers (meet, talk, keep talking, say bye, keep talking more, and never truly grow apart). They all taught me something and all affected me in some way. I will treasure all of them and never forget any.
When I roamed; I went too far, stayed too long, spent too much… and I loved every minute of it.
When I loved; I fell too fast, stayed down too long, recovered too slow… and I loved every minute of it.
When I jumped; the height was too high, the sky too dark, the bottom too shallow… and I loved every minute of it.
When I danced; the music was too loud, the floor too hard, my feet too sore… and I loved every minute of it.
…Just have them say this…
My mind was too pliable, my body too breakable, my heart too vulnerable…
And I Loved Every Minute Of It.
