20-Something Travel Part 2 – A Few Attempts to Justify My Trip.

Come January I’m getting on a plane and crossing the Atlantic. I have no idea where I’ll end up, how long I’ll stay or really why I’m going. I know I have/need/want to go but I’m having trouble explaining WHY to myself and others. In Part 1 of this post I tried to explain how important figuring out this WHY is and how I’ll need more than a ‘because I can’ to justify this trip. Here are just a few (okay a lot) of the ways to find meaning in my adventure that I’ve thought of in the last few weeks. All of them are close but not quite right. If you think of any more PLEASE let me know.

Ways to Find Purpose in 20-Something Travel:

• Volunteer. The most direct way to give back is to provide a service to people who appreciate it. I’d love to help build a house or clean up a forest, working hard with people who care sounds ideal to me. But I have to be careful here; many volunteer groups cost serious money to join and are more about the volunteer experience than the work that gets done. I don’t want to help people so I can say I did at dinner parties.
• Find a real job. Every 20-something has a few Facebook friends who took a year off to teach English abroad (bartend, nanny, work on a farm, hook people into a zip line) and if you want to take an adventure without breaking the bank it’s the way to go. The thing is there is a lot of paperwork involved with working abroad, not to mention the hassle of finding the job itself. It also ties you to a place- which in many ways is a wonderful thing- but not always. I’ve thought a lot about it and I know I don’t want to teach English or work a tourism job I could make more money at in my hometown. If I get a job I want it to be one that challenges me professionally and prepares me in some way for whatever I spend my time doing in the future. Finding that position is a challenge and a commitment I’m not quite sure I’m up for.
• Landmarks. Maybe my goal is to see how many waterfalls I can climb to the top of in one trip? Or to take a photo of the sun rising every morning? Maybe I’ll see how cheaply I can live while still saying yes to everything. Maybe I’ll try a new food every day? A friend of mine made it his goal to visit every country in South America in one trip, even raising the money to go via Kickstarter. In return for our contributions he kept up with a blog and wrote us Haikus. He managed to find purpose and meaning and break even all in one life-altering 3 month trip. But I don’t want to check off a list of European countries, and asking for money isn’t something I’m at all capable of even considering. How do I do what he did without doing what he did? Is something as trivial as crashing as many weddings as possible enough of a goal for a trip?
• Blog. Speaking of blogs, in the last few weeks I’ve spent an absurd amount of time on travel blogs that rave about all the ways to travel on a budget and how essential traveling in your 20’s is. Most of them detail how they went from blogging to remember the trip to blogging to make money and as a recent blogger (we’ve been at this almost 10 months!) I can’t deny that travel blogging sounds enticing. But again, this little voice of doubt creeps in, saying that too many other more talented people are already doing the job, who am I to throw myself into a community of people who seem so sure it’s the only thing worth doing? I’ll definitely blog while I’m on my adventure, if not on here definitely on some less anonymous site for my friends and family. But is that enough? Is keeping a public online diary enough of a purpose to get me out the door every morning? Why am I so afraid to be a travel writer?
• Study. Who says I need to be enrolled to go to school? Maybe I can audit a few archaeology classes from a London university or just move to Italy and teach myself everything there is to know about Roman history. The reason I’ve struggled so much choosing a career (or a grad program) is I have trouble choosing just one thing to love. This could be my chance to learn it all. I could even blog about it: 3 Things I learn Each Day.
• Pilgrimage. I don’t really identify myself with any particular religion so a spiritual journey to the holy land is out (besides I’m pretty sure the Mormons got it right with Zion), but I could trace my lineage. My ancestors are a Scandinavian melting pot and I’d love to see Denmark, maybe even meet some distant relatives, but is that enough of a justification for a trip? Sure double checking my already graphed genealogy might be interesting, but will it really make a difference in my life? Would my time be better spent elsewhere?
• Finish my projects. If I quit my job and stayed in my hometown what would I do? I’d take the time to finish all the projects I’ve started and never finished or been too afraid to start. I could do these things while also in another country. I could use this time to finally read and finish my grandmother’s incomplete novel. I could write a book of my own, finish my college/high school scrapbooks, edit all the video footage I’ve amassed over the years, teach myself web design or learn to play guitar. Doesn’t that sound romantic, renting a flat in Tuscany to make another t-shirt quilt for a few months? Think of all the little old ladies I’d have a reason to meet.
• Make a documentary. Becoming a filmmaker has been something I’ve almost wanted my entire life. I saved up for a nice camera, made a few fun films here and there in high school and with my fellow princesses, even went into Journalism to learn a bit more about documentary work. But I’ve never been quite brave enough to pull the trigger and jump in. Mostly because I’m not sure it’s what I want but also because I’m not sure I’ll be the best at it. I could use this trip to make a film I’m proud of. Whether it is just to practice my skills, to prove to myself I can or to submit to festivals, this would be a perfect time to make the movie I want to make. But that is a lot of pressure to put on one trip and there is all sorts of paperwork I’d have to deal with to even consider using the footage for anything other than my own personal diary. What if I run out of money half way through or clam up in front of my most important interview? I’m not sure I’m ready. And don’t even get me started on choosing the right idea.
• Freelance. If I found a way to make money on the road I’d be home free. I could spend mornings getting work done and sightsee in the evenings, spend a week traveling and hunker down the next to finish a project or two. But finding a job like that takes serious imitative and I have no idea where to start. Not to mention it rarely pays well, but I’d even consider breaking even a serious win.
• Intern. Internships are the 20-something’s work experience and if I’m going to be jobless I might as well do something I find interesting. Maybe I could track down someone who’d let me help out at a science museum, or interview everyone I could about what it’s like to be a geologist. It would be worthwhile to take this time to network and talk to people about what kinds of lives their jobs provide, figure out who I want to be without committing to the years of preparation. Who knows, maybe I’d find myself having lunch with the head of the BBC and she’d be so impressed she’d pay me to travel the world and write about urban legends.
• Start something of my own. Maybe I’m not cut out to work for anybody ever. Maybe I should take this time to design, develop and launch my own company that will take over the world. I don’t mind working hard when it’s something I care about. Younger people than me have had an idea and made it lucrative enough to survive on. Why can’t I? And traveling is the best inspiration for a young entrepreneur.
• Accomplish something difficult. I’m lucky enough that I have an opportunity to raft the Grand Canyon River this October. It is a 21 day trip which qualifies it as a long vacation, but I don’t feel the same anxiety for that trip as I do for the one I’ll take in January. Upon further reflection I realized the Grand Canyon is an accomplishment, a difficult and demanding thing that only a few people are capable of completing (due mostly to opportunity, but also to desire, preparation, time, strength and skill). This is something that will take a lot of physical and mental strength to complete and I’m proud that I’m brave enough to even attempt it. What if I made this January trip about climbing to the top of a really remote mountain? Or backpack along a mountain range ridge line? That would be a purpose, something that pushed me and strengthened me and gave me something to focus on.

Here is what I want. I want to wake up in the morning and have more to do than sight see. I want to have interesting reasons to talk to strangers and goals that push me out of my comfort zone. I want to set up a meeting with a scientist I found in Budapest or jump on a train with some new friends because they know of a cave that has glow in the dark fish. I want to have a plan that I can decide whether or not to deviate from. I want to have a goal that can evolve as I go. I’m thinking big, I know. But if not now, when? Any advice on finding purpose and meaning in your wanderings? Why have you or your friends traveled? How did they justify it to their friends and family? How did they justify it to themselves?