Fast forward through years of university, living in different states, volunteering in Africa, and having an amazing year in Portland, I have finally begun my adventure back to Austria!
I am currently on Prince Edward Island with my sister as we WWOOF here with a farm family on the island of Anne of Green Gables. Already we have experienced so much in the many hours it took to get to PEI.
What amazes me is how different of a traveler I have become since my first days as a rookie traveler and young student of Europe. In addition, it's sometimes surprising how different every travel experience is compared to past or previous adventures.
Not every flight will go right or go wrong. Not every person will be friendly or unfriendly. The weather will not stay the same. The languages will change from place to place. Your personal perceptions and reactions will be different with every experience or situation.
A traveler can only be prepared for everything by knowing the unexpected will most likely happen. The best way to approach any and every new adventure is by expecting everything may be backwards than initially prepared for or first remembered.
I've surprised myself by how little I prepared personally for this trip. I don't mean by the packing or the planning or itinerary or any of the logistics. I mean by my personal ideas on travel. I've nearly forgotten how quickly culture changes from one place to another. I've nearly forgotten how all the changes affect how we react or don't react to what's happening around us. I sometimes feel as though I've forgotten how to be a traveller!
I love travelling and all the new things I can encounter. I love the adventure and the spontaneity of travel. I also love that travelling is an ever changing and moving classroom. Learning is the best part of travel. I am learning all over again about culture, about how to immerse into a culture and how to accept the many different traditions from my own culture.
I may have travelled to or visited more countries than I would have imagined I would have visited by this age, but I'm learning again how much more there is to know and learn.
This trip will truly be an adventure. I will be challenged again and again physically, emotionally and mentally. I look forward to all I will experience and all I will absorb and be taught. I am not an expert traveller, but still a traveller in training.
