Travel is not some exclusive, elitist club whose membership is based on how many stamps you've got in your passport and it shouldn't be made into such a thing. It's not about how many countries you've been to. It's not about how many monuments you've taken pictures with. It's not about how many followers you have on Instagram.
What it is, is a learning experience. A chance to gain some perspective. A blessing.
But I don't need anyone's permission or approval to hop on a plane and I don't care what anyone else thinks.
Travel is not an arbiter of my blackness or of my socioeconomic status. Truth be told, I've traveled when I only had $37 in my account and my blackness isn't always the most evident so......there's that.
As far as I'm concerned, if you want to pack up the minivan and road trip it down to Galveston, you have traveled. For some of us, going to work every day is a traveling experience. It is what you make it. But It's not about posting pictures on social media of the obscure place you went to that most people could never even conceive of and then making them feel bad about not being able to go. That's not what it should be about.
For me, I travel because its in my blood and I just can't help it. I can feel it in my bones. When I reach a new destination, something comes over me....I can't explain it. Then I experience it and I want to Share. It. With. The. World. Because I just can't keep my mouth shut.
Not in a "I'm better than you b/c I'm here and you're not" or a "look at alllllllllll the stamps/visas in my passport" kind of way. But in a "look at God's creation and how incredible and different things are and how we can be so ignorant because we don't know everything and I can't wait to share it with you and hopefully inspire you to follow in my footsteps or create your own journey and let me see it too" kind of way. Does that make sense?
Not everyone can do what I do...and not everyone does it for the same reason I do it. But I know that and I'm not walking around judging them for it. It's not the way I was raised and doesn't fit into my Christian training.
What I can do is try to be as inclusive as possible. No that doesn't mean I'm traveling with any and everyone. The way my personality and attitude are set up - that just won't work.
BUT, I promise to continue to share all my experiences with each and every person that takes the time to read my posts, as long as the great God in the heavens allows me to do so. I will continue to share the travel deals I find, I will post pictures and stories, etc. My only hope is that my humble blog continues to gain followers and I can inspire someone to step outside of their comfort zone and try something new.
Remember, travel isn't just about planes, trains and automobiles. It's a state of mind and being. You can travel up the street and hopefully there's an adventure there waiting for you. The other day my mom told me that I needed to sit down somewhere. In the past two months, I've only been home one weekend. But nah....while I'm alive and able, I will and now that I've begun, there's no turning back.
It takes tooooo much energy to make someone feel like an outsider. I'd rather expend energy getting lost in another country and telling y'all about how I tried to find my way.
So for all those who are out there who post pictures and videos of your excursions with the express purpose of one-upping, making jealous, boasting, bragging, exaggerating, showing off, etc....cut it out. I see you and you should be ashamed. Don't do it for the bravado. Do it for the story, for the memory. You should be out here living, not making someone else feel like crap b/c they don't have the same opportunities and resources.
This post is brought to you by a convo I had with a bff just this morning. It stirred something in my spirit and I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading.....make it a great weekend.