The Travel Bug

Currently, with the global pandemic that continually hinders the ordinary, travelling is most definitely out of the question for many people. With the inability to go somewhere new and exciting, the desire to do so for me is at an all-time high, as the travel-bug has now entered my bloodstream. The inability to travel to corners of the world that are exceedingly diverse from Canada, where I currently live, makes me long for a change in scenery. The concept of wanting what one can’t have is only more intensified during these past few months of quarantine, as with Covid-19 the stakes are much greater.

Like myself, I am sure there are many people currently suffering from the travel bug after quarantining for the past five months. As defined by the Urban Dictionary the phrase Travel-bug means, “a strong desire to travel to places all around the world.” Going somewhere foreign and culturally dissimilar would be a dream come true. While I sleep my mind conjures images of places where the people speak different languages and exude culture far beyond what little we have here in Canada. Compared to ancient cultures like those of Greece and Italy dating back centuries, Canada’s is no match as it's still young and developing.

The best way to understand the travel-bug in depth is to accept the fact that it is two-faced. On one hand, if someone has contracted this metaphorical bug, they will wish to be somewhere other than where they currently find themselves. The travel-bug swims through the bloodstream of the infected and makes them crave the sensation of being somewhere foreign and different from where they presently find themselves. With Covid-19 now being a factor in rendering mostly everyone’s travel plans obsolete, the desire for escape is intensified with the knowledge that they most likely will not be able to visit many places for some time. Wishing to be somewhere that seems largely unattainable, for reasons like school, money, work, and now Covid-19, never generates a good feeling and can leave many struck with the sensation of defeat and hopelessness.

The more captivating side of the bug warms one’s insides and stimulates the mind to fantasize of beautiful places they crave to go, and the blissful sensation of being somewhere completely different from their ordinary surroundings. It makes one want to travel the world and see things only the luckiest get to see, as travelling is a gift not everyone has the means for. The bug will make your appreciation for the world and all it offers intensified and more vivid, as your mind imagines places and things you wish to see. This temporary reflection replaces the actual concept of physically being in the place you think of, acting almost as a fever dream and the second-best option.

For me, the travel bug enables me to envision narrow cobblestone streets dirty from grime and soot after centuries of usage, lined with unique marble limestone brick buildings glowing from old age. I long to stand in the streets of a small Italian town somewhere along the coast, listening to the hum of voices as they converse in a dialect I can’t understand and smell cooking waft out of someone’s apartment window. I wish to smell the distinct scent of European tobacco that constantly resides in the air as pungent as the fragrance of fresh tomatoes imported from the north, or olives imported from the south. I wish to once again obtain that euphoric feeling of being in a city entirely new and unexplored to me. When I travel, there’s a certain void within me that gets filled. It's filled by no one thing in particular, but a collection of little experiences and characteristics of the place I am visiting, like the sweet sound of a waiter’s accent poking through their broken English or the beauty in what it seems like almost everything from the food to the architecture. However right now, my void is empty and wanting to be fulfilled once again.

The reason I brought up the travel bug is because of the grave importance that travel holds for me, and why the bug never fails to pain me to its fullest degree. I have been fortunate enough in my short 20 years of life to have travelled to 28 countries all around the world. I have seen both brilliant and devastating things along my journeys, all of which have changed how I view the world. I have full confidence that my travels have in turn altered the way I think, act, and present myself, moulding me into the complete opposite version of myself had I not travelled. I strongly believe that travelling alters how people see and conquer issues, as it broadens people's grasp on their knowledge of the planet and stretches one’s comprehension to go beyond the issues that are solely presented in front of us. I think in many cases to be able to attain a macro perspective of the world, instead of a micro perspective – such as problems only presented right in front of us – one should travel and access the life-transforming attributes that come along with seeing other parts of the world that are contrasting and divergent to one’s own culture.

It would be absurd for me to state that I think everyone must travel, spend their hard-earned money to see the world, as I know for many the opportunity is not available. Travel can be expensive, and there are so many other aspects important to life which are also set at a high price that should come first. However, there are many ways in which travel doesn’t have to be expensive. There are less costly places to stay like hostels and airlines that fly for cheap. All it takes is creativity and dedication to find cheap and affordable alternatives. I strongly believe everyone can travel one way or another, and they should seize the opportunity. I think when people have travelled and experienced the gifts that come along with it, traveling can make someone a completely altered and better version of themself. It broadens the mind, allowing for one to be highly receptive to much more than they might be before experiencing something unknown to them. Travelling will allow you to see beyond what you already believe.

Once Covid-19 has subsided and no longer controls our society, I urge you to take a trip and conquer the travel bug if it too terrorizes your mind and body. Experience the culture of the place you visit to the fullest and admire the differences that you see compared to the world you left back home. There is so much brilliance and wonder to this earth, it would be a mistake not to see it if the opportunity presents itself. Take a leap of faith, change your views and become a receptive and knowledgeable person of the planet you live on.