Sunday Reflections: No Turning Back, The Journey Is On

"How can I put on for my city if I never leave my city?"

The above quote is one I recently saw on someone's Facebook status. Maybe they were just having a random thought and felt like broadcasting it. Maybe that person really has never left the city they live in. Then again that person could be discovering the importance of knowing what's beyond their own town. Anyway, they thought it and they wrote it out for the public to read.

I'm one of those people that never felt the need to put on for my city. There were never any feelings of shouting out the word Houston everywhere I went. However, there was a need for travel. Long before college I became bored with my surroundings. Even in college I wasn't as excited as I should have felt. Generations of my family had gone to the exact same place for an education, so there was nothing new in that city. New experiences were created, but the city was the same as it had been the moment I went at 6 years old. Throughout those boredom moments I continued to daydream about a life in a new place.

These daydreams have led me to California and Hawaii. Wait, just so you know during high school I did visit several parts of Louisiana and explored Atlanta, Georgia without family being around. Plus in middle school, again without the family, I was able to take a trip to the Bahamas. I'm not stranger to leaving my city. California and Hawaii are totally different than those past trips. Going to Las Angeles and then to Hawaii showed me the importance of leaving your city and never coming back.

hotel room in California

I have a friend in Los Angeles. She lives in an apartment that she decorated on her own. Along with that apartment she has gone from working for companies to being an entrepreneur. The way she talks and tweets about her city, which she moved to approximately two years ago, is absolutely amazing. You can tell that she's found her home. Even if she gets bored with her surroundings one day you can still tell there is no hint of boredom in her right now.

Then there is my best friend in Hawaii, who I recently went to visit. We used to have a nickname for her. It called call Miss Travel Every Weekend. She could not be still. Then one day she decided she was going to get a second masters degree and her location would be in Hawaii. She hasn't traveled since. When visiting her there was this aura. She walked, talked, and breathed Hawaii. She was education on her surroundings and ready to help me explore this place. She was absolutely happy. After years of planning out places to travel to she had finally decided to settle down and it was amazing to watch.

The problem with being able to see their happiness is it makes me want to get to that place of  happiness. The problem with traveling is there is no turning back. It's easy to say "How can I put on for my city if I never leave my city?" What's harder is wanting to come back to your city after you've seen what the world has to offer.

It is too late. There is no turning back. I've seen some beauty and I'm ready to view more.

I'm not at a point in my life where I can network heavily and attend a million events. This is what they preach to those people that want to go down the path I'm traveling. I'd love to go to the Blogging While Brown Conference. Then again the National Association of Black Journalists screams "We want you Lashuntrice" and then there's the Blogher conferences I'm learning more about. I want to be able to attend these events, but time isn't on my side. But time is on my side when it comes to planning another trip to some place new.

They thought I'd get a taste and settle back down. Not this time. The next trip will be to New York. The journey is on.