Travel Writing
The 10 Reasons Why Travel is Important to Me
Exploring the world one day at a time
I grew up on a small island in the Caribbean. Even though there were many areas to visit, I was running out of places to explore as I got older. I also started to get curious about the world outside of the island and dreamed of exploring bigger places. I believe I started to suffer from what is called island fever, a concept I learned recently. It would explain a lot.
Island fever is a “psychological distress, dysfunction, or disorder that causes significant stress, abnormal thoughts, and feelings in people that are temporarily or permanently staying or living on islands.” Based on this definition and looking back at my lasts years on the island, I believe that I suffered from it. I always loved travel, but financial resources weren’t as available in my younger years. Instead of traveling in person, I traveled using books.
I was able to explore Paris, Marseilles, Rome, and Greece thanks to Dumas’ The Count of Montecristo. I also explored the Amazon rainforest thanks to Allende’s City of Beasts. During some Art History courses, I learned about the influences from different eras and different pieces of land. It made me crave visiting these places more and more each day.
