Everywhere you look you will find a tattoo, a wall hanging or a Pinterest board, all dedicated to wanderlust. When will someone stop to realize wanderlust is just that- it’s a lust, a desire to go travel and seek adventure, it is not an act or lifestyle at all. Instead of all this planning and wanting, we should be spending that time doing. They don’t say youth is wasted on the young for nothing; it is time to discover your own excursions rather than wasting away reading about those of others. Maybe you can’t go to Europe on a whim or a runaway to Australia for the winter but there is nothing stopping you from exploring a local hiking spot or road tripping across a few states to see a kick ass concert. Excitement and opportunities to live are all around us, so why miss out waiting for something better?
The term wanderlust doesn’t represent a twenty something jet setter living in foreign cities and visiting the wonders of the world. It is a behind the scenes craving. A longing to become the people we see in the picturesque Instagram accounts and blogs we follow. If you are anything like me, you are probably reading this while simultaneously browsing flight prices, destination vacations and any opportunity to go abroad you can. Dreaming big is not a crime, it is an ambition. Dream as loud and cliché as you can. If you want to backpack through Europe after graduation, you go glen coco. If you want to make three figures and live in the city by 25, I’ll be first at your door with the congratulations champagne (seriously, invite me to the party). The trouble is when our aspirations turn into tunnel vision and freeze our immediate chances to live. Dreaming and reality have become contradictions in our society, they turn the brightest and most hopeful of people into hypocrites. We dream extravagantly but live routinely.
After all, not everyone can just deplete their savings, stick it to the man and quit their crappy job to backpack in Europe for a year. Living in the city in your tailor-made apartment may be financially out of reach. In life, sometimes we must be realistic (something I try to do as little as possible). Fun fact- being realistic does not correlate to being boring. Stop feeling like not running away to an exotic place makes you a failure. The stories you read are not the only adventures to be had. There are countless opportunities and experiences waiting for us if we just seek them out. There is not a town in this world that doesn’t offer something unique and new. Going to a locally brewery with friends, making a competition of thrift store finds and revisiting your favorite childhood amusement park are all ways to pass the day without your bed and Netflix. While these daily trips may not be your end goal or the insane adventure you have been pinning and fantasizing over, they are a way to live rather than wait.
Next time you are sitting in your air conditioned living room sulking over others exciting lives, realize the only thing stopping you is you. Cliché but true, a one track mind and stubbornness are the two things getting in the way from turning a mundane Sunday into a time-of-your-life Sunday. So while ‘being realistic’ may be the most spirit crushing phrase in the English language, transform it into motivation. A giant middle finger to the haters who say you can’t have fun while living at home or being a broke college student. As long as you have good company and the ability to try new things, do it. Keep dreaming and longing for your exotic adventures, but don’t let the wanderlust stop you from actually wandering.
The term wanderlust doesn’t represent a twenty something jet setter living in foreign cities and visiting the wonders of the world. It is a behind the scenes craving. A longing to become the people we see in the picturesque Instagram accounts and blogs we follow. If you are anything like me, you are probably reading this while simultaneously browsing flight prices, destination vacations and any opportunity to go abroad you can. Dreaming big is not a crime, it is an ambition. Dream as loud and cliché as you can. If you want to backpack through Europe after graduation, you go glen coco. If you want to make three figures and live in the city by 25, I’ll be first at your door with the congratulations champagne (seriously, invite me to the party). The trouble is when our aspirations turn into tunnel vision and freeze our immediate chances to live. Dreaming and reality have become contradictions in our society, they turn the brightest and most hopeful of people into hypocrites. We dream extravagantly but live routinely.
After all, not everyone can just deplete their savings, stick it to the man and quit their crappy job to backpack in Europe for a year. Living in the city in your tailor-made apartment may be financially out of reach. In life, sometimes we must be realistic (something I try to do as little as possible). Fun fact- being realistic does not correlate to being boring. Stop feeling like not running away to an exotic place makes you a failure. The stories you read are not the only adventures to be had. There are countless opportunities and experiences waiting for us if we just seek them out. There is not a town in this world that doesn’t offer something unique and new. Going to a locally brewery with friends, making a competition of thrift store finds and revisiting your favorite childhood amusement park are all ways to pass the day without your bed and Netflix. While these daily trips may not be your end goal or the insane adventure you have been pinning and fantasizing over, they are a way to live rather than wait.
Next time you are sitting in your air conditioned living room sulking over others exciting lives, realize the only thing stopping you is you. Cliché but true, a one track mind and stubbornness are the two things getting in the way from turning a mundane Sunday into a time-of-your-life Sunday. So while ‘being realistic’ may be the most spirit crushing phrase in the English language, transform it into motivation. A giant middle finger to the haters who say you can’t have fun while living at home or being a broke college student. As long as you have good company and the ability to try new things, do it. Keep dreaming and longing for your exotic adventures, but don’t let the wanderlust stop you from actually wandering.