Tell a tale of traveling, a city or country you’ve been to or a favorite vacation.

I don’t even know where to start with this prompt. I love to travel. It practically defines me. My first memories are from a trip to Virginia with my mom when I was 2. I grew up on family road trips across the United States visiting old homes, family and friends. I spent college skipping off to Los Angeles whenever I could, and took what I consider my first “real” (read: self-funded) trip to Cleveland in 2011 to visit family. I get antsy if I go too long without getting on a plane or in a car for hours on end. And there’s no way I could pick just one experience to talk about.

My first international trip was to Europe in 2010. I went to Dublin, Rome and London on a study-abroad trip. I drank too much (I wasn’t legal in the U.S. yet!) and put very little effort into the schoolwork aspect of the trip. I had a mental breakdown in Ireland and spent almost half a day in tears. I experienced culture shock in Rome. My laptop was stolen out of my flat in London. It was still one of the best experiences of my life.

This spring, I went on an epic road trip through Western Europe: Amsterdam, Paris, Lucerne, Nice, Barcelona. I drank too much (no excuse this time, but at least there wasn’t schoolwork), made dozens of friends and contracted bronchitis. Still amazing. Over Labor Day, seven of us who met on that trip gathered in Toronto to have a mini-reunion.

I think that’s my favorite thing about travel, if I had to pick just one – when I travel, I meet other people who love to travel, and then we travel together. That’s true with anything in life, I think – when you do what you love, you meet others who love the same. I marvel at this little life I’ve created, a life that I love but also love to escape from. I love to mix my travels up – travel for fun, travel for people, travel alone, travel with others. Toronto was a new city in a new country with relatively new friends. This weekend I’m off to a city I know like the back of my hand, Dallas, to visit my favorite travel-loving people – those who raised me.

The list of places I hope to visit in the future is truly infinite. I want to see and do everything. It may not be possible, but I’m going to do my best – I think I’ve got a pretty good start!

What is your favorite place in the world? Where do I absolutely NEED to go next?!

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