I’ve Released The Wanderlust Genie

I’ve got the itch… the travel itch. I got bitten by the bug that nibbles on curious minds and whispers in your ear ‘just pack your bags and go’.

I haven’t traveled much. Not nearly as much as I’d like to, but every new place I’ve ever been to has made me realize just how much more there is to see. All those countries and cities, the nature, the culture, the language, the cuisine, the sights, the remote villages and the modern metropolises, I want to see it all…

So while I’m sat here at my desk, doing my 9 to 5, eating tasteless lunch out of a plastic box and staring at a screen, I can’t help but wonder ‘Where to next?’

The urge…

The urge to see the world isn’t anything new; not for me anyway. It’s always been there.

It started innocently enough, like a gentle whisper tickling my ear with its warm breath. There was a lot of ‘what ifs’ in the beginning and ‘wouldn’t it be nice’. What if I went travelling abroad for a week? Wouldn’t it be nice to escape to Spain for the weekend? Unfortunately since there was so much else going on in my life around the time I felt it first, the little voice was easier to ignore.

Over the last couple of months however, it’s been getting progressively louder. Loud enough in fact, that travel is on my mind most of the time. I have reached a point where day dreaming and planning has taken over most of my waking hours.

The first time…

The first time I embarked on a journey was almost 8 years ago.*

*If you want to get all technical, this can’t really be classed as travelling; but for the purposes of telling my story, we’re going with that.

26th of September, 2009. The day I packed my bags and left from my humble home in Bulgaria and moved to Wales. Why would you call this travelling, when you actually settled in the country I hear you ask? Because this was my first ever step into the big wide world. That was the first time I got on a plane, the first time I went to a foreign country, and trust me, it was a big adventure. Lugging a single suitcase full of my positions, I had to find my way from Heathrow (London) to Aberystwyth in Wales, and anyone who has any idea of where the two are will agree with me that getting from A to B is quite the trek.

So let’s set the scene. Young me, never having been abroad before, having to find her way from one unknown place to another. To my own surprise, I wasn’t scared, or intimidated or worried I might get lost. No… I was excited.

That was the first time in my life I felt truly alive. I’m pretty sure I spend the whole 17 hours (yes that’s how long it took me to get from the airport to the my student accommodation in Aberystwyth) with a huge grin on my face. That’s when I first felt it. The little nudge in the chest that said, we should do this again. We should do it again, and again, and then some more.

This first step outside the familiar bubble of my home town into the big unknown was an eye opener. It revealed a new side to my character. The nomadic streak that makes you want to wander.

I didn’t get to do much traveling abroad after that. I did explore a fair bit of the U.K. whoch was a treat in itself. From the evergreen Welsh rolling hills, to the many Scottish lochs (no I didn’t see Nessy).

That was of course until a few months ago when the little voice started getting louder. I started feeling trapped. Feeling constrained. Feeling like I’m not living my life to the fullest. I felt like there was so much more to life that I wasn’t experiencing. Call it a quarter life crisis if you like, but I needed to do something… to go somewhere. So I did. I started small with a little trip visiting family in Germany. That once again validated my belief that there is a big old world out there and I want to see it!

Now seeing the world is a priority. The thought never leaves my wandering mind. I live for the moments when I’m out of my comfort zone plunging towards the unknown. These are the most magical; the moments of reflection, gaze locked at the new and exciting. Surprisingly, they are also the times when my otherwise hyperactive mind feels the quietest and most at peace.

The desire is now stronger than ever but I must admit that the stars have aligned in my favour as well. I am lucky enough to be in a job that allows me to afford the odd trip here and there.

I also have someone who’s just as keen to see the world as I am. That helps. That is another big driver. It’s a wonderful feeling when you have someone who will hold your hand and happily get lost with you, someone to share the views with…. someone to tell you you’re walking towards the wrong gate at the airport.

So there it is…

I’ve released the wanderlust genie and this little bugger wouldn’t go back in the bottle. But I don’t want it to. I don’t want to settle, I don’t want to sit tight and day dream anymore. I want to go and do and see. ‘What if’ is no longer enough. What I need now is a ticket in my hand.