When The Wanderlust Hits You

Hello, my name is Cecile and I am addicted to traveling. It does sound silly when you say it out loud, “addicted to traveling” and one might scoff it off as one of those millennial problems that youths come up with when they need to catch attention from those people who live on the internet, but it is as real as it gets.

I do not know when it exactly started to be honest, but I remember all I ever wanted to do was travel. See the world, be amazed and come back home to my regular job plus life like nothing special happened a week before.

The first trips I ever took weren't even out of the country or thousands of miles away from home; it was a week away from the city and its hustle- bustle life. I was forced to take leave or else lose all my vacation days. Of course took it and let me tell you; IT WAS AMAZING! The tranquility that comes with being around nature is amazing; the fresh air, there was no unnecessary noise anywhere except for the beautiful chirpy sounds of birds and constant whoosh of the trees when the wind blew by. Even the wind was not that dry- hot gust filled with dust and unknown particles but a fresh cool breeze filled with aromas and fragrances from the different homesteads scattered all over the place.

You could think, I was at some resort yet I was at my Grandmother’s house in the village surrounded by trees, farmland, kitchen coops and cattle kraals. That week marked a new step in my life.

After that, whenever I could get a chance to leave the city even if it was for a weekend, I would do it without thinking twice. My grandmother was happy about the company and taught me so much about the countryside that I had everything on my fingertips.

Yet, I kept itching for more; I needed more than I was getting at that time and even if I didn’t know what it was I kept searching for it within every place I went to.

The other times when I travelled, I would wander off to beach havens hidden within the country. I didn’t know how gorgeous water could look without revellers jumping and playing in it but I fell in love with that beauty. I needed to see more, what else was my country hiding from me?

Social media is a magical place, most people do not notice how deeper it gets because we always keep scratching the surface. I found so many travel groups on several of the sites I frequented and discovered gems within those groups; most of the people on these groups organised trips every month or two. I was excited about this and decided to join in every excursion they planned.

After several trips, I realised I needed to plan for my salary and only go for trips I could afford since I had been spending a lot more money than expected on traveling compared to everything else in my life. It is during all these trips that I learned how beautiful my country is and how refreshing it is to always go away from everything and see life from a different angle than what you are usually used to.

After the group trips, I started hunting for trips headed out of the country but this meant spending even more money than I usually do. I made a decision to start saving up, stopped spending on unnecessary things and put up a plan that even though sometimes I veered off, helped keep me on track with my expenses.

There was joy and relief in seeing new things and I took it in hungrily craving for more to be given to me.

Within four months, I had been to over five countries such as Samoa, Ireland, Seychelles among others; countries I didn’t notice much unless they popped up on my screen due to something happening there. I fell in love with these countries and learned a lot from their people. For every country I visited, a fire was lit in my heart to visit even more others and I am doing just that. It is not easy saving and not jumping for every night out, but it is worth it. Every once in a while, I drag my friends along for some of my travels and they love it too.

I now get very excited when travel packages pop up on my phone screen, I have stories to tell and look forward to discounted packages whenever I can find them. I am wiser now about so many places, yet I know I have so much more to see and learn.

Yes, I am addicted to traveling but this wanderlust has brought so much therapy, joy and adventure in my life and do not think I will give it up anytime soon.

Credit: Travel.jumia.com