Why I Choose to Travel

I’ve been asked before why I travel. That really is a loaded question because the reasons each person travels is different and the reasons change as you move through the ultimate travel experience that we call life. I’d like to mention first reasons that I’ve found why other people travel.

When I’ve spoken with other travelers in the course of my journeys I’ve come across, digital nomads, backpackers, wanderers, travel bloggers, social media influencers, luxury travelers, transients, “snowbirds”, empty-nesters, budget travelers, family travelers, language immersion students, escapists, language teachers, and so many others. It seems like everyone has a name and a place within the field of travel. Sometimes though, being a part of one of the subcultures of any sort of larger group can make a person feel a bit lost and like they don’t stand out. In this blog post, I hope to explain how I hope I will stand out among the many that are already scrambling to find a way to stick out in a market that is already quite saturated.

Common Reason Why People Travel

I wanted to start off by pointing out some reasons why people choose to travel. I would say that the majority of people that I’ve encountered have said they travel to “experience the culture”. So many people never even have the opportunity to get outside of their home town let alone outside the country. There can be a lot of culture in your own town that you become familiar with. It’s quite interesting though to be able to share your own culture with people around the world while experiencing theirs. You’ll come across so many different types of people and the way we build conversation or relationship is by drawing similarities but also discussing our differences.

Some people travel to “get away” or “escape from” their normal lives. I see this a lot with vacation travelers who only get a few days or weeks off a year and use that time to “get away” from their family, work, issues that might be waiting for them when they get back from vacation. So, the release or relaxation feeling is only temporary. Finding a way to keep that feeling going is something many people struggle with though…hence the wanderlust.

I’ve also found that people travel to “find themselves” or go on a “spiritual journey”. In a way, I feel like this is also an escapist move in that people usually leave their old life & problems behind in order to focus on the journey to find who they are. I think it’s about putting your self in a state of not being comfortable in order to discover what you like and who you are and what makes you happy. Finding your self is a life long journey though because our bodies change, our tastes change, our ideas of happiness change and our mind changes. Honestly, you don’t actually have to go far in order to discover your self.

What inspired me to start traveling

After returning from my first major trip navigating through Europe in 2015, I had a severe case of wanderlust. Actually let me get my story straight, my wanderlust truly started after I finished a large commitment to myself I completed when I visited every city in the state of Washington. Yes, you read that right. I did visit every city in the state of Washington in the United States! I have yet to write about that journey as it’s a bit tough to salvage all my thoughts when it comes to visiting over 490 cities and putting 30,000+ miles on my car doing it. Keep checking back and one day I’ll eventually get my thoughts together and lay it all out. Making the commitment to myself to complete my road trip through Washington built my confidence to understand that I could do anything if I just set a plan and execute the plan. Anyway, coming back from a 22 day trip through seven countries in Europe really made wonder what else was out there to explore.

One other reason I was inspired to travel more is that when I was younger, my family didn’t really have a lot of money and we also didn’t go on a lot of family vacations. So now that I can pay for my own vacations, I am kind of playing catch up.

Wait…So why do you travel?

I know that my answer to “Why do you travel?” will change as I gain more experience and depth in my travel journeys. So, expect that this entry will be updated in the future as my perspective changes. 

If you follow my Instagram, you may see that I personally don’t fit the stereotypical image of what is the “norm” when it comes to travel bloggers. I’m not super fit with six-pack abs. I’m kind of a nerd and like visiting nerdy places and not just staying all day tanning on the beach. I’m not Caucasian. I don’t have the best fashion sense and love to wear clothes I get from the thrift store. I’m not in my early 20 to early 30s. I will say that what I am….is unapologetically ME.

When I originally brainstormed starting Boy Versus World, I wanted to stay away from boxing myself into one niche because travel and my life in general is so multi-faceted that I didn’t think that I would do either any justice by only talking about one aspect. I also originally thought it was best that I stayed away from being labelled as a “black travel blogger” because I thought that I would scare away other types of readers that weren’t specifically interested in what it’s like to be a person of color as well as a person that writes about travel. I am much more than just an African-American person who travels.

I’m going to be totally honest with you on this next note. One thing I noticed from the start when I was researching the market and the travel writing space is that faces like my own are very under-represented in the industry. It’s quite hard to find people of color that showcase their travels and broadcast them to the world and I find that a bit disheartening. Sadly, the travel industry has been honed for years to cater and advertise to non-minorities. Let’s be real though, people of color have a lot of money and it’s terrible that there is a large market share that is being missed because advertisement revenue isn’t being used to market to people of color. I started to realize that who I am is something I could capitalize on. I don’t mean specifically make money on, but rather, utilize something I know about in order to inspire other people with similarities to me to venture out and cultivate their own journey in life hopefully through the medium of travel. I’m still interested to hear from you as to why there just aren’t a lot of people of color in the industry especially many that are successful.

I sometimes think that people get discouraged to travel, even if they have money, when they don’t see someone like themselves traveling and having fun and living their best life. It’s like a security blanket when they see someone like them going somewhere exciting and having the time of their life with no problems. It’s a matter of trust which is a consistent problem in communities with people of color. People have been taken advantage of for so long that often times people find it hard to trust one another. There are deeper issues than just why people choose not to travel and by writing this blog, I had hoped to open up the lines of communication so that that we can start the conversations that need to be had.

I did want you to know that the similarities between you and I may not be that you’re also a person of color but maybe you also lead a plant-based lifestyle or like to go hiking and explore the outdoors or just love positivity. I had hoped that over time I could build an audience of people that find a common ground with me and other readers that would hopefully inspire them to continue to read what I write as well as interact with me to share their own journeys. That way we could build a community of people that are just inspired to live life to the fullest and support each other through each of our journeys in life. I have noticed in my life that it’s very important to genuinely support one another because sometimes people don’t know which way to turn in a time of need and it’s awesome to have a good pal to turn to for guidance. It also helps both sides of the interaction learn and grow. It may seem like a big dream, but I always have hope that building this community will be a success. 

In addition to what I said above, I would like people like me to be more visible in the world because there are still struggles we endure traveling to countries that don’t have a positive opinion of us and the only way to change that opinion is to keep going and showing our faces.

One other reason is that I would rather spend money sharing life experiences than acquiring tangible possessions that I might not remember when I get older.

I love that at this stage in my life, I am still learning how to do something new. I’m learning how to accurately write about my experiences. I’m learning how to navigate public transportation and find the best deals for air transportation. I’m learning about visas and visa requirements. I’m trying to learn Spanish and French just in case I need it, even though I’m not doing that great. I’m just happy to be elevating myself and keeping my mind busy and traveling helps me with that. Traveling truly makes me happy on so many levels! In order to make a name for myself I have to work hard at everything I do to change the face of travel.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about why you travel or what you think about the travel industry. Please be so kind and leave a comment so we can start a conversation.