Compass

I am among you. I think of us as true travelers at heart but not yet deserving of the upper division “vagabond” title. It’s like being a Girl Scout; we haven’t gained enough patches to graduate into being a woman scout or whatever comes next. We’re in the same club, have similar interests, play in the same arena, only at different levels. Here the patches are not measured in terms of stamps on a passport but the distinct mindset and skills adopted by one who vagabonds.

But to those still working towards being crowned with this wanderlust honor, here are some of the badges I’ve stumbled across (but maybe not yet gained) during my travels:

take on a slower pace: you’re never going to see it all. you grew up in the same city for twenty plus years and still haven’t seen all of that place. also, it’s not about acquiring a list of places you can rattle off to your friends when you get back home. it’s about taking it all in, knowing where that market is or what the streets smell like at five in the morning when the bakeries are finishing their pastries.

plan on not planning: you can plan some of your trip like maybe your departure date. but don’t tie yourself down with everything else. plus, it’s usually cheaper to just book stuff when you’re there with companies or locals you can actually rely on.

laugh: laugh with yourself and at yourself. you’ll be given plenty of opportunities to make a fool of yourself and I assure you, you will take many of these opportunities unknowingly. but, also, there’s just a lot that goes on in the chaos of travel and if you can’t laugh all along the way, what’s the point? your outlook on everything will completely alter your experience.

be conscious: this is the only way you can tackle these ideals and create a lifestyle from it. be purposeful with what you do and you can make it permanent.

The list goes on and on, I mean, people write books on this stuff like Rolf Potts, the author of Vagabonding who literally wrote to those of us aspiring vagabonders (My inspiration for this specific post, having listened to over half the book while on the metros this week).

But I would say I have a biracial traveling identity: as I am mixing study abroad adventures with a little bit of vagabond dreaming.

Either way, I find all of these mottos, tips, and ideas to be things that fuel or can help further inflame any travel seeker in their constant movement from one trek to the next.

Vagabonding is meant to go beyond the individual trip, be it six weeks to six years, in order to become a lifestyle.

Personally, I don’t dream of specific locations (okay, outside of my hometown love where my family, dogs, and flip flops can be found, I don’t dream of exact places). I dream of the adventure, the feelings I’ll have, the people I could meet, and the sunset that’s awaiting me. Whatever place happens to show its face or tie itself to my schedule, that’s the place I’ve then dreamt of.

I actually didn’t make a list of places I wanted to visit when I came abroad. But I made a list of things I wanted to learn, change, experience. Since I have been away I’ve realized that each and every one of these can happen in anywhere.

One of the reasons I think vagabonders are so prized is because they don’t ever stay settled, but I mean this outside of their environmental surroundings. This state goes far beyond a physical flight and refers to their internal adoption process, fine tuning and creative qualities that never stop; this is what each of us travelers want some part of.

But, I’d say that vagabonding is meant to be a life thing, at least all the internal workings of it. It’s not just a quick little blurb of your life. It’s meant to be a permanent, ongoing, never ceasing change.

I’d argue that we can all vagabond. Even travelers who don’t literally take twelve months off to clear their minds and hit the road with just a backpack of necessities.

It’s not the distance, it’s the trip. The trip changes you. The trip gives us travelers life. The trip is what we are all working towards.

It’s a lifestyle so adopt the lifestyle, work on it daily, and make your life a series of trips near and far.

You don’t have to cross the Atlantic to gain new interpersonal insight and knowledge.

Yes, I agree that there are some things that cannot be fully grasped without the personal experience and some of those lie across a series of boarders.

But the breakdown of a trip goes something like this: 5% location, 5% funds, 40% people, and 50% perspective.

“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” -Rolf Potts, Vagabonding

So my challenge to all us travelers or even wanna-be-vagabonders is this, take on the new perceptive and see the world every day.

“People say you have to travel to see the world. Sometimes I think that if you just stay in one place and keep your eyes open, you’re going to see just about all that you can handle.” —Paul Auster, Smoke

I will travel every day of my life

Will you?

Riley Makenna

museum gang in brussels

this is mannequin piss…. i dont like his name

eu parliament

the town sqaure

“this is not a pipe” (because it is a painting of a pipe)

the inside of museums are often more beautiful than the majority of the art. but i like architecture

muscles in brussels is a real thing, a real good thing

down the galleries

graffiti mannequin piss

meeting friends in the town square around midnight

michele showing us around paris!!

visiting michele’s son’s restaurant

thank you france for lady liberty

gorgeous garden luxembourg

just walking around finding cute things

this marks the traditional end of the paris boundary

hands down the most beautiful day in paris

shoah memorial

this photo choked me up. one of the eleven thousand children deported from france. she never returned home.

this wall was redone for the century mark of 2016

finally got to see this mural in real life

this is the wall that still divides belfast, too much to try and caption

best vintage store ever, finally got myself a jean jacket

st patty’s parade in belfast!

only regret: not opening up my jacket so you could see my shirt