SUNSHINE AURA – poetry. short stories. community.

I just returned from my latest trip. I can’t help but feel called to keep on traveling – to keep on seeing new places, meeting new people, and learning the history of each place.

Travel has the ability to make us care more deeply about one another. It’s easy to stay home. To never see somewhere new, to never learn about other cultures and ways of life. But if you never go, you’re missing out. Even in the U.S., just visiting a different region from yours can be eye-opening, given we have such a variety of cultures, climates, and histories here.

Coming home, I am feeling thankful. I am thankful to have the time and money to travel, and I wish that would be afforded to everyone.

The more I leave home, the more I uncover who I truly am.

I’m a different person when I’m out in the world as an explorer. I am more patient, curious, and happy. I love going on a city walking tour and learning about the people who were there long before us, as well as the people who remain there today. I love going to a local museum and seeing the artifacts left behind. I love waking up early and going to bed late, just to soak in a few more precious hours of exploration.

There is a wonder in travel. A spark of amazement and satisfaction I don’t feel can be garnered from anything else in the world. Reading books and watching films are great, but nothing can replace going and seeing it all for yourself, first-hand.

Travel will also make you more compassionate. It will remind you there is a big, wide world out there, full of people with their own concerns and needs. It will make you care about their wellbeing and safety, just as you care for your own. It will make you care that their language, ways of life, and culture survive. It will remind you over and over again of The Golden Rule.

When someone offers to help show you the way, when you’re cooked a traditional meal with flavors you’ve never tasted, when you’re shown the history of the people. In those moments, you will feel your heart fill with joy and purpose. Care and love.

If you can travel, I hope you will. I hope you will go out into the world with an open heart and mind, and return home a new person.