I have an oddly specific memory of being fourteen years old in my bedroom with my lifelong best friend who I still talk to regularly. This is the age where you start to develop a sense of consciousness: there is, in fact, a life after high school. And it is, in fact, up to you what you decide to do with it. My friend had said to me, “What’s the one thing you love more than anything in this life? I think, for you, it’s music.” I looked at the floor for a minute or two and then replied, “Actually, I think it’s traveling.” 

That year my Christmas gift from that same friend was a book called 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. I was hooked. While at that age I hadn’t traveled much – I had family trips to various places around the U.S. and my grandma took me to Puerto Rico that summer – but I just knew it was all that I wanted to do. I would flip through this book and mark the pages of the deserts and mountains and rivers and cities I would have given anything to see, even then. Every decision I made from then on was made with the goal in mind to eventually have a life full of enriching travel. Finally to see these places from this book in person.

When I was sixteen, it was difficult for me to choose a college major. I got a full-tuition scholarship to a private university and it was like a dream come true, so there was no question I was going to college. I finally landed on International Relations and Diplomacy with a concentration in Language Studies. But… I was convinced by external pressures that this wasn’t “practical” enough. How was I going to make money with that degree? So, I switched to Business Administration, and later moved to a double major in Finance.

While I was in college, travel seemed unachievable to me. I told myself I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have the time. I half-heartedly convinced myself if I could just succeed in the finance industry – get a good job on Wall Street – I’d make enough money to take all the trips I wanted. I wanted to travel so badly that I almost suppressed the yearning within myself, periodically forgetting it was even there, occasionally forgetting who I was. I didn’t think about much while I was in college other than grades and internships. 

Until I did. I blinked and went from my first college class – 8am Poli Sci – to my last semester, almost four years later. I had three months until graduation and had no idea what I wanted to do, and this realization was creeping in. I chose the wrong path. After working in a Manhattan office for a summer and doing part-time consulting work throughout my college years, I actually couldn’t imagine wasting my life at an office job. But I was a business kid. Again, what my heart was really desiring, which was to travel freely, seemed unachievable. And societal pressures told me it was, too. 

I have this memory, clear as day, about halfway through my last semester of undergrad. My randomized Spotify shuffle was playing, and I was just looming around my bedroom, not sure what to do with myself. Reach for the stars, so if you call you land on a cloud. I played the song back. Reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud. Some brain synapses finally connected, or some energetic blockage finally released itself. What was I doing? And why am I working so hard towards a life that I know is going to make me unhappy? What is my heart and my intuition telling me right now? 

By the next week I applied for my passport and had a trip to Italy booked. Venice, without a doubt, was the first place abroad that I wanted to see. I didn’t even have to think about it. Fourteen year-old me was ecstatic. And so was twenty-one year-old me. I disregarded that the end of April – when my 8 day Italy trip was booked for – was right before finals, capstone project due dates, and my campus organization’s big event of the year. I didn’t care. I was following my heart.

And it was my biggest dream come true. When the overnight flight from JFK to Rome was down to 45 minutes left according to my screen, and I could see the coast of Italy out of the window, I cried happy tears. This was the first time in my life that had ever happened. I couldn’t stop crying – I was really looking at Italy! When I hopped on the train from Rome to Venice, I stared out the window for the entire 4 hour trip totally unable to believe I was really there. I was obsessed. And when I exited the train and saw my first Venetian canal, I cried again. When somebody doesn’t understand how important travel is and always was to me, I tell them this story. I have never cried out of happiness over anything else, ever. And then I did twice in one day. 

Italy was what my dreams were made of. I went back to school after the trip, completed my degree, and moved back across my home state. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew one thing: I needed to get on a plane again. I convinced my friend from college to get her passport and come to France with me. So in June, we went. It wasn’t enough for me of course but as a broke recent college grad with student loans and pressure from my mom to do something with myself, I decided I couldn’t keep taking trips every other month to Europe. I worked three jobs for the summer while I worked out what to do.

Leaving so frequently was too expensive, after Airbnb’s and round-trip flights. But what if I just went for longer..? And to a cheaper destination? I told some of my friends that I was considering a month or two of backpacking around Southeast Asia – accommodations and food are cheap, it’s gorgeous, friendly, and popular with backpackers. But I wasn’t sure if I had the confidence to really do it, especially by myself. I journaled about it – I asked the universe to give me some guidance, and to show me how good life can get. A week later I met Anthony. 

He worked next door to one of my jobs, and came in to browse. We started chatting, and he mentioned to me that in a few months he was leaving on a backpacking trip through Southeast Asia. I blinked. He explained that he was starting in Indonesia and ending in Vietnam, and visiting all of the countries in between. I blinked again. He mentioned he was going alone, but he was always asking around to see if anyone would come on at least some portion of the trip with him. 

“…I will.” “Do you have your passport?” “Yeah. I just got back from France.” “Well here, I’ll give you my number. Let me know if you want to talk about it more.” 

24 hours later, my flight to Jakarta, Indonesia was booked. And 68 days later we hopped on a plane that would take us to the opposite side of the planet for three months. In that time, I saw the Indonesian island of Java, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Through this adventure, I realized how attainable long-term travel really was for me. I’d never stayed in a hostel before but I learned to love them. I’d never taken a 20 hour cross-country bus ride just to save $40, but now buses are my favorite mode of transportation. I’d never been comfortable enough with my finances to not work, only spend, for months – but I quickly learned that there are ways to travel that are not so expensive at all.

Right before Christmas, I took my 15-hour flight back to New York. I already knew I wanted to backpack again – next time for longer, more adventurous, and probably completely solo. I worked another three jobs for six months to save up enough extra money, and this past June I showed the boarding agent my one-way ticket to Hungary. 

I’m currently in Turkey, four months, 7 countries later. I’ve been staying in hostels and volunteering in mostly rural locations. I have a ways to go before I set foot back in the U.S. I’m aligning myself with what my heart desires, and I do believe in return I’ve received this gift of such a beautiful life. I still remember when I was in high school, I met an older man at a pizza shop who told me he’d traveled the world and we chatted about his adventures. When he got up to leave, he looked me in the eye and said, “It’s your turn now.” I don’t plan to stop backpacking after this trip is over, either – stay in tune for my future excursions!  

Travel really is more attainable than most people are led to believe. If it’s a priority, it can be done on a low budget. My travels are not luxurious, but I learn more lessons and meet more people than I ever would’ve if I stuck to my 10-day, traditionally touristy Euro trips. My advice is to stay away from expensive hotels and tourist traps. Take public transportation instead of using rideshare apps, and choose restaurants outside of the typical touristy neighborhoods…and let me know how it goes! <3

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