How Wanderlust Found Me
By Shannon Elder, Greenheart Travel Intern
When you find passion, you follow it. You are the only person who can create your future. You make it happen. This is why I am excited and honored to be interning at Greenheart Travel. The more places I go, the more I learn about myself. These are experiences everyone should have.
I was born in Denver, Colorado to two travel-obsessed individuals who work for major airlines. A very generous perk of their career is the ability for family members to travel for free. For this I am very lucky. I am grateful. I would not be who I am if it was not for the opportunities they provided for me. Maybe wanderlust is in my DNA, or maybe I found it on my own, but either way I have found myself to be a traveler.
This was my childhood. I have seen the glaciers of Alaska. I have seen the volcanoes in Hawaii. I have seen almost all of the Highway 101 coast line. I have seen New York City and Los Angeles. I have seen cities for a week or longer, I have seen cities for a day. I have camped in every state of the breathtaking West. I have stood on the summit of a mountain 14,000 feet above sea level. I have seen both oceans and thirty seven states in between.
The first time I left the country I was fourteen years old. I ate seafood on Spanish coast line, appreciated impressive architecture, found myself in something completely foreign. The spark for trekking the world only ignited from there. I saw elegance in Monte Carlo, Monaco. I experienced true Italian food in a small city in Tuscany. I grasped the reality of ancient cultures in Tulum, Mexico. I explored markets in London. I wandered one of the most amazing parks in Vancouver, Canada. I ate chocolate covered waffles on a street corner in Brussels, Belgium. I took in the gorgeous beaches in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. I met some really funny locals in Jamaica. I drank my fair share of beers in Ireland. I hiked through the jungle in Costa Rica.
I am independent and driven because of my journeys. They have shaped who I am, changed my values. I have learned respect. I have learned compassion. I have learned openness. I have learned to take every opportunity; to never be afraid. Situations don’t always go ideally; sometimes they are better, sometimes they are worse. You begin to accept things you cannot change, you go with the flow, you enjoy each moment for what it is. You find love in the people you meet along the way. You’ll learn how gracious and beautiful most human beings are, no matter where they live or what background they come from. You will find happiness and you will find freedom.
The world is a very big place. It’s bigger than where you grew up, it’s bigger than your comfort zone and you’ll never know all of it. That’s what makes it so beautiful. There is always something to find. There is always someone to meet. There are always experiences to be had. There is so much left to see, and I’m not stopping anytime soon. There is a life to be lived, without any regret. Don’t hold yourself back. Go.
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