In the past 24 hours, I’ve traveled by car, plane, train, bus, and foot a distance of approximately 5280 miles.
Over the course of the day I slowly made my way from Texas to the UK, despite the obstacles of canceled flights, equipment malfunctions, and late trains.
Of course, after traveling for 24 hours straight I am exhausted, but I am also in the beautiful coastal city of Swansea. And It’s hard to be exhausted when you’re so excited to be somewhere new.
But somehow even with all the exhaustion and excitement, it hasn’t quite hit me that I am in the UK, where I’ll be living for the next five weeks. It’s all a little surreal still, despite my aching feet and the smile that just won’t leave my face.
Though I haven’t done much, there is one thing I’ve learned that I think is super important – when traveling, forget all preconceptions and stereotypes you have of the place and the people. It’s important to be knowledgeable, of course, but I’m talking about thinking that certain groups of people all act a certain way or that one city is better than another. Not only are you most likely wrong, this kind of thinking will only affect you negatively.
If you go into travel with open eyes and an open mind, you’ll find yourself surprised by everything around you. And this kind of cultural discovery is the reason why we travel.