A few weeks back on our way to New Orleans, I found myself sitting in my window seat high above the world, giddy with excitement about traveling again after several months without anything but traveling for work or to see family.  The trip was our first in a long time just the two of us, myself and Nick, headed somewhere to explore, to wander.  And as we flew into San Francisco (we had an overnight stop there on the way to NOLA), the clouds opened up, the city and water below were shining like I’ve never seen it before.  I could make out every single area of San Francisco and the way the light was hitting it as I watched this scene unfold high above in the air was simply magical.  I realized I had a huge smile on my face just experiencing it, a feeling of pure joy that made my heart soar.  In that moment, I thought to myself how that feeling, that pure bliss of the idea of travel, of moments when you feel you’re in the exact right spot at the exact right time, that is a feeling that my fellow travelers and I know so well.  It’s what makes us who we are, it’s what makes our lives have purpose.

Without travel, without exploration, I wouldn’t be who I am.  And no matter what’s going on in my life, travel is what makes me whole.  I know so many of you reading this are probably thinking the same thing, knowing that just the mere act of going somewhere sets your soul on fire.  Seeing new things, hearing new languages, eating new foods, travel is the way we live.

We are the travelers, the people who find peace on a long flight with only the clouds below, who would fly around the world even for a day to experience something new.  We are the ones who find ourselves smiling for no apparent reason other than just the pure joy of traveling and experiencing a destination, the ones who sacrifice other parts of our lives to follow our passion for our world.  We are the ones that have stood at the top of waterfalls under the midnight sun and just stared in awe at this great planet, we are the ones that find ourselves in a tiny back alley of Paris just smiling at the sound of French wafting around us and cobblestones under our feet.  We are the ones that come alive when we step off of that plane, the ones that hobble together a few phrases in a new language, the ones that dream in vibrant color of the world we call home.

We are travelers and today I’m celebrating all of you out there that are nodding along to this post.  All too often our passion for travel gets grouped into being irresponsible or overindulgent.  All too often our passion for seeing the world gets frowned upon or pushed aside.  But at the end of the day, travel for us isn’t something extra to spend our money on, it’s what feeds our soul and gives us life.  So to all my fellow travelers, may we never stop exploring and may our feet always be restless for our next adventure!