What does travel exactly mean to me? A lot of things. Just so, so many things.
Travel always had my heart. From an early age when I got to step into airports, I knew that I was meant to be there. Meant to be going wherever I was going, I had simply no doubt. It wasn’t just exciting to me to travel to some warm place and lay on the beach, but the whole experience of waking up at 3-5 am when it’s still dark out, to catch an early morning flight – has been truly motivational. I couldn’t figure whether it was the atmosphere of airports, diversity of so many individuals passing me by, rushing towards getting to their various destinations or just the fact that I was about to see new people and places which inspired me towards never wanting to stay destination, or one place forever.
As a child, first being able to travel to Turkey with my parents, even though, honesty I don’t remember much of any details, was great. I have been to Turkey three times apparently, even though I barely remember one of them, I bet I was super excited and of course, grateful. This was my main travel destination between ages of three and five, and I honestly would always be excited to go anywhere my parents would decide to take me, no matter how small, big, warm, or cold the country is, because I just love my family so much, and love traveling with them, always and forever. I see my family as a one and true soul tribe, till the infinity, and I certainly would pick my family over any other travel partners- we just know each other too well, and understand each other, gladly. I am grateful for any small and big opportunities I had and am looking forward to having related to discovering this earth and planet. I want to experience part of my true calling and something that would simply add on the diversity and excitement to my mission – the major exploration of our planet earth. Seeing things with my own eyes, feeling new air, seeing new diverse faces, learning about other religions, habits, and life. No matter which country my family ever went to – we always made sure to not just sit in a resort and drink a pina colada on the beach, but to see how natives in countries live, what they do, their true traditions and what they have to say. Hearing and seeing people has always been important to me – that is how I was raised. To me, traveling to a warm country was never simply about staying on the beach 24/7 or by the poolside getting drunk – it was always more exciting to see the lives of others, how people make the best out of their living conditions, and how just so many of them have nothing more to ask for, which is beautiful, if you truly think about it.
Here we are in 2024, in our spoiled and ” everything is not good enough ” society, not even truly able to enjoy what we have right in front of us, whether it’s something small or big. But locals in countries such as Dominican Republic, for example, are very much content with their living, the food they get, make, and eat, and their sunny life. I love that, so much. The concept of enjoying the little things in life. So many times, I actually wish I lived far away from a busy atmosphere – somewhere on a sunny island, making new local friends.
No matter which hardships people and their families in the Dominican Republic face, they always can be seen being super positive, super uplifting, super grateful. That is not just because they don’t know or have seen any better – that is because they have been raised this way, to be grateful for their simple life on a beautiful island. Of course, everyone feels sad and down time to time, in search for better life or overall circumstances, but not once did any Dominican locals display any discontent, or any whatsoever rude behavior towards my tourist family. Without even us as simple tourists giving anybody money, nor buying anything, people will always have a smile on their face, from local cooks to people at their shops. I never, ever sensed anything superficial about people living either in the third world countries, or just poorer areas, at all. I hope more individuals learn from the simple lives of others in so many countries they travel to and learn that sometimes there isn’t much you need to have to create a beautiful, happy life for yourself and have a true peace of mind.
While I enjoy laying on the beach with my pina colada and tanning, reading a book, I prefer making a schedule even when traveling, and leaving needed number of days to travel outside of my resort, either with a tour, or in a small group, including my parents and sister. It might sound crazy – but I love waking up very early in any place I travel to, especially my vacations – sort of to not waste a minute of my mornings in a new destination or a paradise. Early local city trip starting 5 am on a Tuesday? sign me up. Going snorkeling on a Wednesday? – I’m there. This is just how you make the best out of your vacations, in my opinion, unless you are obviously an elderly person who is truly tired and came to relax and enjoy their time in peace on a calm beach.
Listening to their favorite hits and music, eating their tasty Dominican-made food, welcoming the locals by a drum show at the airport – that is the image that I will forever have of the local Dominican people. With all this being mentioned – I just wanted to touch upon my love towards seeing the true culture, experiencing true traditions of people, and putting myself into other shoes as much as I possibly can.
My parents, sister and I enjoy talking to all the locals – whether in Egypt, in Mexico, Dominican Republic, or any place we go to, it is super important. And I believe I need to draw more on the importance of truly traveling – beyond your all-inclusive luxury resort, so that you can really call it travel.