ANNIE BILLUPS UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN FOR AT LEAST HALF THE TIME I studied abroad in Valparaiso, Chile, I did not know the date. I knew just enough to meet school deadlines and weekend travel times. It was wonderful. In South America, time stands as one of life’s lesser priorities, allowing me to think less about the future or past and just be. Chilean students strolled into my classes five to 30 minutes late and teachers seemed not to notice. Tracking down my waiter to get the check after the meal required as much patience as finding the olive in my empanada, as Chileans customarily linger in the restaurant for an unlimited amount of time. My desire to learn the language forced me to live more slowly – lunching for two hours with my Chilean mom, spend minutes at a time reading a billboard, taking twice as long to read a novel. Ordinary concerns like what internship I should be applying for, or what I’m going to do next semester and after graduation suddenly became ridiculous. Understanding bus routes, exploring Valparaiso’s winding streets, effectively communicating with my host family, and building relationships were the only practical goals. The importance that I used to place on planning for the future shrank as my priority became building my life in the now. Hopefully I will carry this newfound zest for the now to class, work, parties and conversations that focus on the future. I doubt I can survive without knowing the date, but a watch won’t make its way on to my wrist any time soon. KRISTINE MEIER UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA GROWING UP IN A TOWN of 4,000 people my entire life, I knew it wasn’t exactly diversity central. I had always wanted to learn more about what was out there. Watching the news made world events seem so far away, when I wanted them to feel closer to reality. I wanted the exotic to become familiar and the strange to become well-understood. When I went to college, I decided to study abroad in England in the fall of 2002 and travel around Europe. I spent a semester at Lancaster University where I learned a plaster is actually a Band-Aid, that a trolley is a shopping cart, and that tea can refer to both a beverage and a meal time. More importantly, I learned that England is not just like America, and that a variety of views and customs exist throughout Europe. Through my experiences I realized how amazing it was to learn from other cultures. Opening myself to differences in thoughts, views and ways of life became exciting and liberating to me. I remember reading Metro and The Sun and gaining an entire new perspective on America. I had never before been outside of the United States and my experiences abroad have impacted me in ways that will forever change my life. CHANTAL M. PINARD SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MY TIME AND MIND were consumed with all things Indian during my third and fourth years of undergraduate study. My days were spent studying the history, music and language of India, and my nights were spent dancing bhangra and dandiya raas. I decided if my every thought was across the ocean, my body should be also. I desired to breathe the heavy air of bustling Mumbai and be soaked in the monsoon rains of lush Kerala. And so I went to study in India, bringing with me the hesitant hope that what I had come to love through textbooks and scratched recordings would be in reality greater than I had imagined. What I did not anticipate was that every brown-eyed stare, every namaste, every head-wobble greeting would take a piece of my heart, forever tucked away within the folds of a sari never to be returned. The India I came to know is not foreign but fascinating, not exotic but enrapturing. What was captured in case studies and outdated black-and-white photographs ended up capturing me. Every morning I put my life in the hands of auto-rickshaw drivers I’d never met, trusting their ability to wind and honk their way through traffic, never knowing if they actually understood my pronunciation of the destination until we arrived - or didn’t. In the afternoons I looked forward to seeing the six young boys who played cricket with homemade wickets and bats on my dirt street. Like clockwork, one brave boy would run up to me and ask, “Your name?” Then, satisfied with my response, he would resume play. While these were the moments that reassured my reasons to travel, I also had many contrasting experiences. I will never forget the day I found out that our cook and adopted mother slept on our marble dining room floor under the table every night with only a blanket, while I slept comfortably in a private upper-floor flat with my fellow Americans. Was I supposed to think of her accommodations as suitable because her alternative was a dirt floor in her own home? The multitudes of memories I struggle to retain keep me connected to my travels by a thread stronger than photographs and souvenirs. Like so many other travelers, my first experiences in India are the reasons why I yearn for more. I will travel to India again because a large part of my heart was left there. It is not so much for adventure’s sake as for love. Love of a culture, a people and a land. Bharat. JOHN RICHOUX LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY I GUESS THE ONLY WAY to begin is to admit that I have a problem. My name is John Richoux and I am a travel addict. When I graduated from Louisiana State University in December 2003, I had no real idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I decided to buy the cheapest one-way international ticket that I could get my hands on and see where I would end up. The only plan I had was to take a few months to bum around and try to discover myself. Well, here I am over two and a half years later, still on the road. I’m currently writing this from a dirty Internet café in Bangkok. It’s hard to explain what still motivates me to want to travel. I have traveled to 7 continents and almost 60 countries. I cannot begin to describe the amount that I have grown as a traveler and as a person in the last few years. Many people ask me why I would want to live this type of life. It’s a life of lonely bus journeys, and dirty hostels and hotel rooms. It’s a world where you make new friends knowing that you are going to bid them a premature goodbye in just a few days’ time. My answer to that question is that I am living for the moment. I do not want to leave this world with any regrets. Your friend in travels, Johnny Nomad (www.johnnynomad.com) SANDRA KAY HERNANDEZ OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY IN SEPTEMBER OF 2005 I went to Hatfield, England to study abroad at the University of Hertfordshire. Coming from Oklahoma State University, it wasn’t too much of an adjustment going from the small town of Stillwater to the small town of Hatfield. In the semester I was in England I traveled extensively throughout the country, seeing the places of Shakespeare and The Canterbury Tales, and now I can honestly say, “I went to Oxford.” Never mind in what context. After going to a concert in Millstreet, Ireland, I had to pay a very hefty euro sum for a cab back to Cork. It was worth it though; the Irish cabbie was priceless. He talked my ear off, telling me what he thought about Dublin. (Not much, apparently.) I traveled a little more over my break, visiting Dublin, which I didn’t think was as dirty as the cabbie thought. I had fallen in love with Guinness so I had to go to St. James’s Gate to see its birthplace. I also traveled to Paris, meeting up with some new study-abroad friends from Hertfordshire. My purpose for going to Paris: to see the Eiffel Tower light up at the strike of the New Year. I think it’s always wise to travel with a purpose, whether it is to achieve a dream or to see a concert, but it’s probably what happens in between your reasons that make travel worthwhile, like the cabbie you meet or the friends you make along the way. VERONICA HANSEN UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN STARTING AT AN EARLY AGE, my family and I took road trips all across the U.S. and also traveled abroad. More recently I have traveled to Brazil, Cambodia, Malaysia and throughout Europe. While many of my friends spent three months exploring the menu of our local burger joint, I was fortunate enough to spend this past summer studying abroad in Spain. My experiences abroad have all contributed greatly to who I am as a person. Traveling to Cambodia propelled my desire to join the Peace Corps. Traveling to Brazil sparked my interest in Latin American history. Traveling to Greece bonded my family further together. And traveling around in Spain has renewed my passion for art so much so that I now know my future career lies in photography. When people ask me how my summer traveling abroad was, I generally give the same answer, “great.” But only I, and others who have chosen to test themselves by traveling, really know how monumental experiences abroad can be. I encourage you to do whatever it takes to get out of your hometown, away from the security of your friends and family, and discover who you really are by traveling abroad! MARC SHIELDS WAIKATO UNIVERSITY, NEW ZEALAND “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” I cried as I was awakened by a massive explosion that rocked the room and my heart. The next explosion came a few minutes later and I wondered what the heck I was doing in this place. Why had I come half-way around the world to the Middle East to find myself caught up in this mess? Furthermore, why had I ventured to Lebanon the previous day knowing there had been a small invasion that morning by Israel? I now write this safe and sound in the beautiful city of Budapest, with the conflict seemingly on the other side of the world. But the questions linger. Why do I travel? After venturing to distant parts of the world, my experiences have put a human face to the people and events that shape and mold the world that we live in. Stereotypes were smashed and friendships were formed. Adventures were had, and that day-to-day monotony of life was transformed into anticipation of what tomorrow might bring. Travel allows us to build bridges to other cultures and mindsets, and to share our own values and life lessons with others. There are many good reasons to travel, but they don’t necessarily have to be tangible. Maybe the reason is found when swimming in the Ganges as Hindu holy men meditate on its banks, or when sitting on Mount Sinai in Egypt awaiting the sunrise, watching it slowly peek over the horizon and wrestle the morning star for supremacy of the skies. Maybe it’s taking a cruise on a sailboat around the south of Turkey on the deep-blue waters of the Mediterranean, or climbing into the Himalayan mountains at night looking for some crazy dance-party that is supposed to be happening. My journey and travels have taken me to many interesting and exotic parts of the world, and yet I feel I have barely scratched the surface. I travel because the world is big but life is short, and I am constantly anticipating the next destination. I don’t want to die thinking I have never truly lived. When I leave this world I want to feel like I truly sucked the juice out of life - every last drop. The experience I had recently in Lebanon was nerve-wracking, and yet I would not change it for anything. I travel because life is too short not to. MARY UNDERWOOD MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY “WE TRAVEL, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” –Anaïs Nin THE WARNINGS AGAINST TRAVEL occur constantly. When I tell others I want to travel abroad they immediately try to redirect my desires to something that involves staying home. A neighbor recently cautioned, “It’s a dangerous world out there for an American; you should stay in the States and do something constructive for our country.” It seems that going abroad is beginning to be viewed as a dangerous and unnecessary undertaking. If anything, however, this is the time that we should be encouraging travel. America needs ambassadors: students, travelers and workers who can show the world the true face of our country. I can think of no greater need than for the residents of the world to understand each other. The only way for this to happen is for people to get out and immerse themselves in a different society, to learn about a different culture first hand. On a recent tour of Australia, I went backpacking with a small group of individuals. Even though we all came from different countries we quickly became a tight-knit family. It seems obvious, but during that trip I came to realize that English was the only common bond that allowed us to communicate and share with each other. I learned how important it is to be able to communicate with others, and I made the decision that I would learn another language upon returning to America. To know someone’s language is to begin to understand their culture and the way they view the world. And ultimately this is why I travel. I travel to expand my world, to learn simple truths, and to slowly learn more about myself. EMILY T. SIMON HARVARD UNIVERSITY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT in plain terms, travel is a silly thing. Why do we gleefully catapult ourselves into unfamiliar places and readily leave the ones we love, just for a few snapshots and a predictable souvenir? Every time my plane gets delayed, the hostel is closed, my wallet feels thin, the map is wrong or my feet are sore, it seems like I should finally be ready to hang up the backpack for good. But the problem is, I’m never ready. Because, contrary to all common sense, I actually like those moments. A late plane gives me more time to spray-test overpriced perfumes at the duty-free counter. The hostel is closed? Chances are pretty good I’ll find another. If the map is wrong I end up somewhere more interesting. Sore feet mean I’ve had a good dose of exploration, and as for the thin wallet - at least I’m traveling light! All of these challenges teach me how to look at things from another angle. In all honesty, I travel because there’s a certain feeling on the road that I can’t seem to find anywhere else. When the yellow lines melt together in the rearview mirror or the landing wheels grumble up into the belly of the plane, I am suddenly, blissfully un-tethered. On the road, I am alive. So why do I travel? Because I love the challenges presented by a thin wallet and a misprinted map, yes, but also because I need the road to help me get back to me. On the return, I feel footsore but sure, tired but true. So, silly as it may seem, I’ll happily climb onto the catapult for one more wild, eye-opening journey. JOSANNA O’NEIL CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY I TRAVEL SO THAT I CAN LIVE in several places during my life, if only for a very brief moment. While I sometimes wish the time it takes to get from Point A to Point B were shorter, it is often the journey that makes my final destinations worthwhile. I’m not talking about your average journey. It’s the wild cab-ride to the train station with a guy who doesn’t speak your language and drives on the wrong side of the road, and it’s the mad dash from the cab to the lobby in order to make the train that you don’t yet have tickets for. It’s the crazy local woman selling her handmade goods outside the train door, who just won’t let you pass her without a great big smile – and your dollar. And that’s just the beginning of the journey.