Veni, Vidi, Vici

I’ll never forget the day I caught the travel bug. It was actually a warm July night; I was sitting on the edge of a fountain, somewhere in Rome, shouting the lyrics to Radiohead’s “Creep,” with my four newest friends. One of them, Angelo, owned a gelato shop across from the hostel I’d been staying in – we had come to know each other over the course of the week (I’m a big fan of gelato), and to celebrate my last night in the city, Angelo brought a few (read: six) bottles of homemade wine to the shop. After a few rounds, we stepped outside and saw some locals sitting by the fountain, strumming a guitar and singing. We offered them some wine, and they offered us a seat.
They didn’t speak much English, and I certainly didn’t speak much Italian, but it couldn’t have mattered less. We had only known each other for about two or three bottles of wine, and yet here we were - arms around one another, singing and drinking together like old friends. It was in this moment that the realization hit me: this is what matters. This, right here, is what life is about. Going out into the world with an open mind and an empty memory card; leaving your memory foam mattress for a lumpy cot in a hostel; meeting people who don’t look or dress or speak like you, and then finding that even despite this, you both listen to the same grunge bands.
It might sound a little funny, but that night was one of the major turning points in my life. Until that night, the words “travel” and “vacation” were one and the same in my mind. While their definitions absolutely overlap in some contexts, it takes an experience like mine to really appreciate how fundamentally different the two concepts are. A vacation is a break; you’re leaving something, relaxing, deriving pleasure from the fact that you are not at home. Travel, though, is more than that; you’re going somewhere, exploring the unknown, discovering yourself in a place beyond the four walls of your comfort zone.
There is nothing particularly remarkable about the story of my last night in Rome - all I did was get drunk with some locals and make a fool of myself in public. The reason that it was a night that I’ll never forget is because, to me, it was the spark which ignited a lifelong passion for travel. Those friendly Italians taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned: that the best way to broaden your horizons is to chase them past the edge of your comfort zone and never look back.