Thought for the day: 

I want to go everywhere, meet everyone, try (almost) everything lol :)

I've started my life completely over 3 times now.  Once after finishing University. Again, after a break up where I left behind pretty much everything except for my clothes and a few sentimental items, and one time after I packed up and moved to Europe for almost a year, arriving home with only 1 dollar in my bank account (but I still had 1 dollar hehe).  

Someone recently asked me "how do you afford to go and see and do so much, you never stop" ...  my response:  Let's see:  I don't have children or pets, I don't own a house (I rent a room and all my stuff, whatever I didn't sell off, is still in storage awaiting any major living situation decisions to be made), I needed a car and I own a cute little scooter, I work 2-3 jobs, I have good credit (if I borrow it, I pay it back) 

It's very likely that I'll be in debt for the rest of my life, but I honor that debt (much the same as I am grateful for working 2-3 jobs to save for and pay back to); it represents my life well lived.  And mine, to date, has been that. Well lived!  In debt and indebted; the people I've met, the opportunities and offers I've had, the customs and traditions I've shared and participated in, the support and helping hands when needed...it's so incredible. So overwhelming, yet very humbling in the same instance.

I believe money and time spent on experiences and education; not on things, holds irreplaceable value.  I'm grateful for every adventure, lesson and experience I've achieved (or tried) from my beginning of time until now and hope that it continues forever.  ~life is good / vida es buena~  

Sure I wouldn't be rich for long after winning a lottery ... I mean in monetary notes of course,  (spend, spend, go, go);  that's fine, I'm already one of the richest persons in the world (I've seen and done so much) and have you met the friends I share this globe with?  So lucky!  And to those I haven't met yet, I can't wait to :)  ps:  Thank you, for everything.

And I love love this quote:  "I'm not better than anyone, I hope we all make it" ...truth!  

To review ALL the vicarious vacations shared so far, your Adventure Map awaits (click here). Please leave your comments, your stories, your travel advice etc. in the section below (comments or reaction section) and give your answer to the weekly survey (top right of the blog page). No sign up necessary, just a simple click :) A little shy?! Why not send me an email instead: holidayheidi@hotmail.ca

~ Holiday Heidi

Dreamer-Traveler. Who's Homesick?

It's more than just packing and unpacking suitcases. I think it's the very core of existence; encompassing every large and small component that one cares to plan, research or to consider or not consider. It's travel. 

But what is travel? 

It's the going, seeing, doing and returning altered, refreshed and in awe. Sure. It's staring at the globe and adding places to your bucket list.  It's searching for affordable destinations and things to do in places you've never been. Or finding new things to do and see in your favorite place. But I haven't gone anywhere yet, is this travel? Do I travel as I leave work and make my way to the market for food  that I will eat for lunch? And, which part of that journey do I classify as, 'I traveled'?

Travel as a verb, is an action that instills excitement just thinking about all the people you will meet and all the reunions that are possible by simply going. It's being grateful, ready for the adventures and the unknowns and setting out to experience it (see, smell, touch, hear, taste). Wait, so, travel is dreaming? Then by definition, I absolutely traveled to the market after work as noted above.  But maybe, no....

As one can get lost in a good book, or when one finds themselves wanderlust while out for a Sunday drive on the outskirts of town; travel is dreaming. Sure it is. Travel is dreaming followed by going and doing or allowing yourself to be energized via imagination; through thoughts, words and photos or by the act of. 

Maybe a traveler is nothing more than a dreamer? A dreamer with a sense of adventure; one who seeks to experience cultures, habits, methods and lifestyles. Who can handle and embrace having their eyes opened as to how the world lives; and uses this knowledge for growth, ego-depreciation, acceptance, movement and appreciation. Certainly a dreamer is a traveler if that's what they wish to dream. And yet, a traveler is nearly always 100 % a dreamer.

“Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” ― Judith Thurman

I feel that I dream a lot.  And by standards, I travel a lot. However, when I'm not traveling or when I haven't traveled in what I feel to be a long time*, I have what most persons would describe as 'homesick'.  The more I yearn to go, the worse this 'homesick' feeling gets until I get to set out on the next adventure (and truth, I don't have to go far, as long as the experience is something satisfying, possibly new but likely eye opening and every bit good for my dreamer-traveler soul). Fernweh is the condition my friends tell me I have (Sherry has reminded me of this), however, I feel it's more severe than that lol.  

*The definition of 'a long time' has never, nor can ever be written when it comes to calculating the time between waiting for travel and the continuation of endless dreaming. 

Are you a dreamer?  A traveler?  BOTH?  I know I'm not alone.  I've met some wonderful dreamers and travelers along the way.  So tell me, where's the next adventure?  I'm working on two things...(1):  a new blog post, more of the Spanish chapter (sorry for the delay). (2): determining the final travel details for visiting the next destination.  

~life is good~  

I'd like to thank Judith Thurman for her quote.  It inspired me to write today and helped define the feeling ...I am 'homesick' to go, see and do.  My remedy is to never stop dreaming, and to travel often and everywhere for as long as I'm able!

To review ALL the vicarious vacations shared so far, your Adventure Map awaits (click here). Please leave your comments, your stories, your travel advice etc. in the section below (comments or reaction section) and give your answer to the weekly survey (top right of the blog page). No sign up necessary, just a simple click :) A little shy?! Why not send me an email instead: holidayheidi@hotmail.ca

~ Holiday Heidi