Post-College Conundrum - To See the World, or Not?

As I neared the end of my twenties, I started to feel anxious about my impending high school reunion. I was still in touch with a handful of my high school friends on Facebook, but it wasn't the same thing with having to be in a room with three hundred people, who last knew me as a gangly, awkward 17 year old. I started to look back on my life, and what I had and hadn't accomplished. I started to compare myself with lives I knew nothing about, and eventually, I began to drive myself mad. My reunion eventually came around, and after an evening of mingling and hob-nobbing, I came home feeling a certain sense of satisfaction.

Nearly everyone I had spoken to, who had graduated from university had done the exact same thing. They graduated, found themselves a job which turned into a career, found a partner, got married, and either started a family, or, were well on their way to having children. I found myself repeating the same sentiment over and over, "Oh, how wonderful, that sounds so great". And no sooner had the words left my lips, I could read the disappointment on their faces as they realized that their lives hadn't quite gone the way they expected them to. I was regaling one of my many African adventure stories to a couple of my classmates, when before I knew it, I had drawn in a small crowd. I looked into the faces of my educated colleagues. A pharmacy tech, a marine biologist, a lawyer, a chartered accountant, it was a room teeming with successful professionals, with important careers, yet I was the main attraction.

So why was I so different? Well, for one, I took a few extra years to complete my first degree. I didn't see the rush! As a young student, I never understood why everyone was in such a big hurry to be what we deemed a "grown-up", doing grown-up things like starting a family, and getting a mortgage. When I closed my last book, I booked myself a ticket to Thailand. And over the course of the last four years, I'd been stepped foot on five different continents, and experienced cultures I'd only read about in National Geographic. And as I watched their faces light up as I took them on a journey through the jungles of Northern Thailand, I realized as I said goodbye to them that night, they were left inspired but sad, wondering why they hadn't done the same thing.

Travel is the most exquisite gift you can give to yourself. And after spending the last four years cooped amidst the stacks, stepping out into the world, literally, is beneficial not only to yourself, but also to those you converse with. It opens your mind, humbles you, and reminds you that life is so much more than Christmas vacations with the -in-laws, dentist appointments, cubicles, office meetings, and anything else mundane. There is an entire world beyond your doorstep, so get the heck out there and live it!