Wanderlust : let's travel the world!

17 mars 2018
5 min de lecture

Wanderlust (-noun) : strong desire, impulse to wander or travel and explore the world

Have you ever felt this rush in your body, this desire in your soul to go somewhere unknown and far away ? This need to breathe a different air, to see a different view ? Since I was a little child, I always wanted to travel.

I was three years old when I first took a trip to somewhere. It was a special trip actually : my first immigration. I was born in France, surrounded by my family and friends, but I was about to leave my little bubble. My three years old self find itself in one of the most amazing place in the world : Los Angeles. A place I would call home for the next two years of my life.

Living on the West Coast of the United States had a lot of advantages : we were close enough to lots of amazing places to visit and experience. Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Monterrey Bay, San Diego, Pier 39, Big Bear, Lake Tahoe... People believe that, as a four year old little girl, I do not have any left memories of all these amazing moments but it's actually not true. Photos helped a lot but I remember a lot of things actually. Those two years turned out to be the kick-starter of my will to travel and discover the world. And I may be only seventeen today but, man, let me tell you : I have accomplished so many things and I am not ready to quit on doing it!

Europe ? Hell yeah! I came back to my little hometown in the south of France after living in Los Angeles. My parents gave us, to me and my brother, this will to travel. During our vacations, we would go to famous Europe capitals. We then first started with London. It was during spring, I remember so well. The air was very cold, the weather a little bit gray, but now, I always associate the English city to coldness and wintery skies and I love it. Honestly, one of my biggest wish is to spend Christmas or any period of the holiday in London so I can re-discover this city under the pale snow and the bright Christmas city decorations. #SeriousGoals

One of the other amazing memory of my childhood was a road trip in Spain, when I was 10 years old. We drove along the east coast to visit places like Valencia or small villages in Andalusia. It was amazing : always about swimming in clear waters and eating delicious local food. We even visited the studios where they filmed most of the Western movies we all know. They are situated in Almeria and it was like going back in time for a moment.

It's funny because, I lived in the south of France next to the Italian border and we actually never went to Italy or at least in the close regions. I only went to villages in the mountains bordering France but the landscape is actually the same. I hope one day I will have the chance to visit this country...

Asia ? Yes please! In 2012, we left France again to go live in a country I had never heard of before : the United Arab Emirates. This small (...) is known for their wealthy lifestyle, tall buildings and the "black gold". But for me, it became the gate for amazing trips towards one of the most exotic area of the world : Asia. Asia is pretty far away if you are an occidental. So living in the Middle-East was the good excuse to satisfy our thirst of exotic and prized destinations. So we started with an "easy to like" : Thailand. And let me tell you that it soon became one of my favorite places in the world.

I usually like countries where you get to discover so many different aspects in one throw. Thailand was the perfect mix of crowded and loud cities (that I actually like!), paradisiac beaches with crystal water and fine sand and dense jungles. It's funny because when I discuss about Thailand with friends, they always remember the beaches. Some even only went in the south and completely deserted the North. How come? For me, the north (aka mountains, jungles, chill temperature) was much better and much easier. I loved the south and its beaches but I am more of a mountain girl. Anyways, Thailand was the first getaway to Asia and we came back enchanted. We would then proceed to go to an asian country every year.

Second on the list: Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was for me..eeeh kind of blurry. We usually went to Asia during the holidays to avoid the cold weather but we visited Sri Lanka under the rain. Lots of rain. Actually, it was raining everyday. But it was still nice, we visited places that I will never forget and we even had glimpse of sunshine at the end of our trip. Sigiriya was my ultimate favorite and our hotel was so luxurious that we even forgot it was raining, I swear.

Honestly, Asia just came back in my heart with a major asset called Vietnam. Vietnam has been by far my favorite place in Asia. Such a beautiful country, filled with amazing landscapes and wonderful people. Food was very tasty and was everywhere (I gained so many weight during this trip!). With two parents having a motorbike license, we enjoyed Vietnam like locals, going in secret places and discovering all by ourselves. We were so curious, so thirsty for discover. We visited the loud Ho Chi Minh, the cold and rainy Hanoi (my favourite place!), the peaceful Halong Bay, the imperial Hue and the sunny Hoi Han. This trip was life changing and I think that now, I will never travel the same way again.

Overall, I estimate myself very lucky to have lived all these amazing adventures at the only age of seventeen. I am conscious that travelling is not given to everyone and I really want to thanks my parents for offering me all these amazing memories. I could list thousands of them and there are still countries I have been that I haven't talked about yet, like the Sultanate of Oman, Jordan or Morocco. I think that having the chance to travel gave me this will to discover different cultures, places, people, that we call wanderlust.

And next ?!

Of course, I hope that my journey will not stop here, that I will still have the opportunity to visit the world and travel. I am a fanatic of bucket lists and here are some of my picks that I hope I will have the chance to visit one day.