I must confess – I have a bad case of wanderlust.\u00a0 I relish the sensation of being in a new place.\u00a0 My heart quickens, my head spins, and all my senses feel heightened.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if someone has toggled my settings to high alert\u2026 and I love it!<\/p>\n
Is that strange?\u00a0 The reason I ask is because oftentimes I feel like I am the only one who enjoys this aspect of venturing out into the world.<\/p>\n
I was delighted when, during a recent social gathering, the conversation shifted to travel.\u00a0 It is my favorite thing to talk about!\u00a0 Vancouver, Glacier National Park, Willamette Valley wineries, and various Tahitian islands were popular places being discussed on the overcrowded outdoor patio.<\/p>\n
There was a pause in the conversation and an acquaintance turned to me and said, \u201cYou\u2019re always going somewhere strange.\u00a0 Where are you off to next?\u201d<\/p>\n
I smile inside.\u00a0 I have actually been preparing and packing for a fourteen-day adventure with my husband. We will be wandering aimlessly through the Balkan countries without an itinerary much less a tour guide.<\/p>\n
I hesitate for a moment before saying, \u201cSlovenia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, before I could get another word out, a smugly self-assured looking fellow remarked, \u201cWhy? Where is it, again?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it communist?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my husband\u2019s hand lightly brush my lower back, his way of telling me to be calm and not react to the gentleman\u2019s snarky tone.\u00a0 I took a breath then proceeded to inform him that, \u201cSlovenia borders Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and Italy.\u00a0 You may be remembering when it was part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.\u201d<\/p>\n
I quickly continued to share our partial itinerary.\u00a0 We will be heading towards Lake Bled, Triglav National Park and the old town of Ljubljana.\u00a0 But what really excites me is the Cow Ball Festival!\u00a0 There is actually an annual festival – complete with food, drink and folk music – to celebrate the return of the cows from their highland pastures.\u00a0 Sounds fun, right?<\/p>\n
Instead of waiting for a response, I kept going.\u00a0 I wanted to squeeze in one more little detail, just for him.\u00a0 \u201cWe are also stopping in Bosnia. \u00a0I am really excited to see the city of Sarajevo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a sip of my diluted mango margarita.\u00a0 The expressions on their faces were priceless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy there?\u201d my girlfriend asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hear it\u2019s not safe,\u201d alleged that same smug fellow.<\/p>\n
Bosnia intrigues me with its rich history.\u00a0 Its religious and cultural diversity has led some to dub it \u201cthe Jerusalem of Europe.\u201d\u00a0 My neighbor Walt, who visited just a year ago, told me about this nuclear bunker hidden inside a mountain which was recently converted to a modern art exhibition.\u00a0 Who wouldn\u2019t want to go?<\/p>\n
The next morning, my girlfriend sent me a text: \u201cWhere else has that gypsy friend of yours travelled?\u201d, the snarky man probed after my husband and I left.<\/p>\n
It made me think, why do I need to explain why I visit these \u201cexotic places\u201d?\u00a0 I am used to people questioning me, but I still tend to get reactive and overly justifying.\u00a0 Sometimes I think maybe I should just ignore the ignorance and continue doing my own thing.\u00a0 But maybe I can help change people\u2019s perspectives by swapping out the negative stories they have heard with my firsthand experiences.<\/p>\n
I feel fortunate to explore the globe.\u00a0 Our news outlets often overlook all the good in the world.\u00a0 I remember how my grandmother used to become engrossed in domestic and international chaos.\u00a0 She was often unable to separate the fear of what she saw from the potential benefits of going somewhere new.\u00a0 She had no interest in travel \u2013 not even to visit her granddaughter in California!\u00a0 Her instincts told her to play it safe, remaining cozy and confident in the safety of her home and small, rural community.<\/p>\n
For years, I tried telling her how rewarding the unfamiliar can be.\u00a0 Though I admit, when I am in my own pocket of paradise – sunny San Diego – it is dangerously easy to think, \u201cNo way, I am not leaving. The world is an unsettled mess and there is too much danger.\u00a0 I\u2019m staying safe and comfortable right where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I made up my mind never to let fear prevent me from venturing into uncertainty.\u00a0 Self-transformation and personal growth always seem to happen when I realize I am not in control, and that is something travel continues to prove to me.<\/p>\n
Plus, there is always more to learn.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t easy to debunk the myths that society has sensationalized about other peoples and places.\u00a0 There is always another side of a story.\u00a0 Crossing cultural lines has taught me many lessons, but the biggest one is that people are far more similar than we are led to believe.<\/p>\n
So, I am off to the Balkans with an open heart and an open mind.\u00a0 I feel my senses gearing up for new experiences, whatever they might be.\u00a0 Seeing new sights and learning about new places is always valuable, but even more so is coming home with \u201cnew eyes\u201d that see the world without the barriers and divisions that a lack of knowledge can build up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I must confess – I have a bad case of wanderlust.\u00a0 I relish the sensation of being in a new place.\u00a0 My heart quickens, my head spins, and all my senses feel heightened.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if someone has toggled my settings to high alert\u2026 and I love it! Is that strange?\u00a0 The reason I ask […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,43,27,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-thinking","category-foodforthought","category-living-the-question","category-reflection","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions\/441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}