Blog: Travel

Pinterest ruins my day. It really does. There is a certain button on that site that seems to draw my eye. I just gravitate towards it, I can’t help it. This button’s name is ‘Travel’ and it is what I want to do.

Italy, Paris, Ireland-I could spend hours pinning travel pictures on Pinterest. Maybe it’s because I feel trapped in America. Even though it’s great, I want to see more. Sure, hundreds of people flood into our country every day, but I’ve never been out of it. I want to see other countries and cultures. I want go to African orphanages and Irish castles. I want to meet Tibetan monks and surf in Australia.

I’ve tried to get my parents to let me go on trips for teens, mission trips, begged for vacations, but they won’t give in. That’s why, when I went on college visits during spring break, I was thrilled when they said you could study abroad and it wouldn’t even cost as much as out-of-state tuition. I told my parents this was what I wanted to do, they laughed. “Studying abroad is expensive, a college student can’t afford that.”

I know, it’s expensive. But when else would get the chance to explore? After college I’ll have to job search, I won’t be able to leave then. Once I get a job, I’ll have to stay there and work, I won’t be able to leave then. Why not explore new cultures while I’m a student? Isn’t that the point of college-to learn?

Don’t worry, I haven’t given up. I have a plan. I’ll save as much money as I can to fund my trip. Work money, babysitting money, maybe I’ll make an eBay account and sell my old stuff. Whatever it takes for a plane ticket.

For now I’ll keep pinning pictures of Bali and Moscow and saving what I can to one day study abroad. Hopefully my parents will understand that everyone deserves the chance to see more than what they’ve grown up with, to learn about people and places that are different. Maybe I’ll win the lottery, then I can travel all I want.