Why do we travel?

I'll never forget the day that I received the email to say I had been awarded a place on the Leonardo da Vinci programme, and that I was going to live for three months in Italy…

Suddenly I was exchanging my hellos for ciaos and sipping espresso as opposed to tea. Living and working at a shelter for refugees in Palermo was an eye-opening experience, and taught me that travel is not only about what you take away, but what you leave behind.

In three months I had had new experiences, made new friends, and learnt a great deal about working and living in Italy, though I still struggled to grasp the reality that 'meet you in ten' equalled 'meet you in an hour.'

Palermo changed my life and my waistline…and it got me thinking about why we travel? I will never forget the day my parents told me we were going on holiday to Spain, my first holiday when I was 5, and ever since I have been bitten. Initially, my plucky teen self would attempt to collect as many souvenirs and fabric badges to sew on my 'travel blanket' with incredibly zeal. Now? My 22-year old self attempts to leave something behind, not possession wise, but in the form of memory.

'If my coworkers in Palermo remember me as something more than 'that girl who came and worked her for a bit' then I will be content' was my thinking as I stepped into Centro Astalli for my first day. And yet, since, I have been begged to return to work for an extended amount of time….I wanted to be remembered as a good person, and I have no doubt that I will remember the fantastic people I met while there.

However, this is all incredibly selfish. Should travel be selfish? Is it fair to describe an urge to travel as selfish? Yes, and no. It is selfish in the sense that one can gain as many experiences in the world in which they live, as they so desire - and who is to stop them? It is not selfish in the sense that if you are truly understanding the essence of travel, travel becomes about the people around you more than you being abroad.

Palermo completed me, and took me from a despairing, internship- laden, unfulfilled recent graduate and transformed me into the positive, upbeat, and world-adoring person I was before all of the job application panic. It moulded me into a new, experienced, confident individual, but also reminded me of who I was..and I will never forget the day when I was brought back to that.