MonicaTraveling made me discover the wonders of the ocean.
Traveling allowed me to see the good and bad effects that tourism can have on a country.
Traveling introduced me to the importance and very low practice of sustainable tourism.
Since I was little, I have had the opportunity to travel every year with my family. Thanks to my parents I have learnt what travelling really means.
Travelling is definitely my favourite thing to do. I know this seems like a pretty obvious thing to say but my idea of travel is maybe a little different.
What does traveling mean to me…
When I travel, I don’t tend to relax, eat food that I would eat at home and enjoy doing nothing. I don’t see the point in flying to another country to just chill and do what you usually do.
To me, travelling means being on a move. This way, I live every single moment at its best, because I am aware that it won’t last too long! I will be going somewhere else very soon.
I travel to immerse myself in the country’s culture and learn about the world that there is around us. I travel to experience their traditions, their food and appreciate their way of living life as it is.
After every trip, I will always go back home with an extra luggage of knowledge and experiences, that will add certain traits to my personality. Traits, which will become a part of who I am and will then be manifested in my everyday actions.
Every time I travel, I am reminded that there is so much outside our own small world. There is plenty for us to see and loads for us to learn to truly be complete.
There is one thing in particular that travel allowed me to fully understand that is the following.
The importance of the small things in life, of the simple ways of living and the enormous worth of small gestures.
I saw kids being happy to carry their chair or desk to school for miles, just so they could go and attend classes.
I saw kids smile while playing in mud after a heavy rainfall that flooded their village.
I saw families struggle to have enough water and food but also saw mothers hold their newborn baby with so much hope and happiness in their eyes.
Be grateful.
I saw people being happy with what we would say is “nothing”. After some time I found myself being happy with “nothing”: just a few possessions, the right place and the right people. This way, all the clutter I own back at home just felt useless and my worries felt insignificant.
Sure, traveling this way has sometimes taken me out of my comfort zone and initially, it was quite hard. However, I then realized that it was simply taking me into the reality of life of that country.
Traveling can be eye-opening and there are so many experiences out there waiting to be lived and ready to teach us something about the world and maybe about ourselves too.
During my trips, certain situations have often reminded me of how much we should be grateful for what we have and that we should never take anything for granted. Spend a few minutes of your day being grateful for something in your life that makes you happy.
All of this is to say that on this page I will also be sharing some of my travel experiences, where I have noticed some of the smallest details, which turned out to be some of the biggest beliefs in my life right now.
I hope you learn to appreciate the simple and small things in life as well as realizing how similar we all are in this big world of ours.
I hope you always respect the country you are visiting by being kind and trying to make your travel activities as sustainable as possible.
I hope that one day you will think slightly differently when you travel and gain value from your own experiences like I have been able to do and will keep doing.
Monica xxx
