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Jessica Yesgosh Professor Cook English 1102 3 December 2012 Traveling Abroad As I tried to decipher what my passion was, many things kept running through my mind, but nothing really struck me until I recalled a memory involving my grandmother. I remember sitting on her lap as she told me about all the places she went and the things she did in her life. I have this picture of her in a green jumpsuit riding a camel that always makes me laugh. Thinking deeper and recalling these memories made me realize that my passion is, one hundred percent without a doubt, traveling. Through traveling, people are able to experiment with new things, make discoveries, grow as a person, and ultimately discover who they truly are or want to become. Traveling is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living Miriam Beard Traveling is more than just going to a foreign place and physically being there. It is about experiencing the cultures and immersing yourself in something totally out of your element. We do this to feel alive and have this sense of freedom. I believe that traveling can change a person and can make you truly find yourself. The definition of finding yourself is different to everyone, but for me finding yourself simply means that you know what your purpose on earth is and you know who you are and what you want.

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Traveling is something most individuals are interested in. We all want to have this feeling of freedom some starting at a young age, and I know for me this is true. The very first time I was able to travel abroad was one of the best experiences and memories of my life. The reason I know it was the best time of my life is because it was the first time I was away from home for a long period of time and I had this freedom that I had never experienced before. I had the chance to go to these beautiful places with my friends, but also I found out things about myself I wouldve never known because I was out in a new environment and had the chance to grow into the person I am today. I grew into this person that really appreciates the things around her and realizes that life is short and do what you dream about and for me that is to travel the world. As a college student, trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life can be a daunting task. There are many students who have a plan and some like me who have no idea, but are at least pursuing something. Then there are students who have no idea what they want and have no idea who they are. That brings me to my first topic of argument, the gap year. A gap year is when after a student graduates from high school they take a year off from schooling to travel or volunteer or do whatever they please. An exploratory year off can help students going into their freshmen year with a clear sense of what he or she wants to do with his life maybe the ability to manage money, and a better shot at graduating in four years. (Chatzky, Jean) I think a gap year is a good idea because I believe if someone isnt fully ready for college it is a perfect transition from home life to college life. In this blog I was reading about two girls who traveled during their gap year and they wanted to come out of their experiences as new people because they thought that since they were putting all this time and energy into traveling- their life better change for the good. As I continued to read this post these two lines really caught my eye:

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Travel forces you to examine who you are in the context of other people and places. Those comparisons, in turn, enable better imaginations of who and how you want to be. (Ang. Kimberly) It caught my attention because traveling is exactly this. It gives you a push to realize who you are and during your gap year it allows you to get inspired to be more than you imagined. Being able to reflect and get inspired is a great combination when you are trying to figure out your life. My next point on trying to truly find yourself through traveling is to do the traveling by oneself. To travel alone is to find the answers youve been seeking and discover the questions to all your unfounded thoughts (Karsten, Cameron). Being in solitude not only allows you to have a deeper understanding of you surrounding, but it gives you the chance to ask yourself questions. Who are you? What are you doing exactly? Why? When traveling solo these questions and many more unfounded thoughts can all be answered. The answers to these questions can sometimes be hard to find, but I believe that if you dig deep enough and really immerse yourself into the cultures you are in without even realizing it you begin to find those answers. A survey in 2011 by the US International Trade Administration of Travel and Tourism showed that of the 18.8 million who traveled, 4.5 million traveled alone (Butler, Brent). I believe that the 23.6% are on to something because they know that you gain so much more experience when traveling by yourself than with a tour group. When traveling solo you automatically have to take on this huge responsibility because youre taking care of yourself and you have this opportunity to mold your life as you desire because its in your own hands. This experience of being alone can help you realize your future dreams (Karsten, Cameron). During

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travel you see the future as an endless possibility, its an empty canvas. You will not realize this, but youll become more open minded, more willing to take risks, and more intrigued by the adventure of exploring the unknown(Karsten, Cameron). One of the attributes I have seen through my research is that traveling solo will boost your confidence immensely (Travel Blissful). Confidence is important in finding yourself and I realized this through one of the books I read over the summer, Eat Pray Love. This story focuses on Liz Gilbert, the author, who realizes how unhappy she is with her marriage and the direction her life is taking. On a whim she decides to get a divorce and drop everything and set out on a journey to find herself. Gilbert travels to Italy, India, and Bali in search of lifes meaning and wanting to get back on her own two feet. I want to talk about this memoir because Liz Gilbert is a perfect example of traveling solo and this novel focuses on what truly matters- yourself. Its an inspiring story that most of us dream we could do; just drop everything and jet off. She first travels to Italy where she studied the art of pleasure through food. Even though she gained the twenty three happiest pounds of her life, she still had this loneliness and self-pity. Next in India she spent hours in silent meditation at an Ashram to seek the art of devotion. After the long hours she found God within herself, God dwells within you as you (p. 191). Meaning that God dwells within you as yourself, exactly the way you are (p. 192). To truly find happiness you have to make peace with yourself. The last stop in her self discovery was Bali where Gilbert sought to find ultimate balance in her life. Balance is not letting anybody love you less than you love yourself Sometimes, to lose balance in love is part of living balanced in life (p. 320). Once you learn to love yourself then you are capable of loving others.

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This book sums up my whole point that traveling abroad is the perfect way to find yourself and by doing it solo, you become a stronger person both inside and out. Now most people might be against my claim that you can find yourself through travel and theres nothing wrong with that, we are all entitled to our own opinion. To some people finding yourself should be a lifelong task and traveling is not the only answer. All the experiences and obstacles that we have in life will add up to understanding ones self. In an article I was reading the author discusses that traveling does help tremendously and he mentions this quote that I absolutely love, Dont go out to find yourself, go out to find everyone else and theyll show you yourself (Crone, Anton). Traveling can help you grow as a person, but that doesnt mean that if you do not travel youre not going to find yourself. Its the people you meet in your lifetime that makes all the difference in yourself. Engaging with these new people you meet will teach you more about the world and about oneself. So even though people might not believe that traveling will help you find yourself, it can still be a big stepping stone in finding yourself as a whole, but its not the only thing you can do to understand who you are. Finding yourself through traveling is something not many people can grasp. Its not something that everyone can experience, but with the opportunity no one would want those experiences and memories to be taken away. You travel for yourself, to re-discover, to experiment, and to explore whats inside you. Traveling is a passion of mine and it is continuing to grow each day. Traveling is a way of learning. You absorb, you experience, you react, and you share. There are many more ways traveling solo can have an impact on you and unfortunately not all people will transform from their experience, most do, but some dont. Honestly it depends on how open you are while you are traveling and how are you going to interact with the different environments you encounter. The discovery that you will make about

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yourself will not come instantly, its going to be slow and progressive. In our normal lives we are so busy that we dont have time for ourselves. We tend to ignore those little details of ourselves that really define us. Traveling is the answer whether aboard or not because it gives us the perfect time for a deep self-examination. To find oneself is a whole process, a personal learning process- a journey.

yesgosh 7 WORKS CITED

Ang, Kimberly. "Finding Yourself Through Travel." Web log post. Giveyourgap. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <giveyourgap.org> Butler, Brent. "Traveling Alone Is the Only Way to Travel." CNNGo. N.p., 22 June 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <cnngo.com>. Chatzky, Jean. "If Your Kid Wants To Find Himself, Just Say Yes." Money 34.12 (2005): 40-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. Crone, Anton. "A Response to the Big Question: Can You Really Find Yourself through Travel?" Getaway Travel Blog. N.p., 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://blog.getaway.co.za/travel-ideas/aresponse-can-you-really-find-yourself-through-travel/>. Karsten, Cameron. "1o Things to Learn about Yourself When Traveling Alone." Matabor Bnt. N.p., 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <matabornetwork.com> Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. New York: Viking, 2006. Print. "Travel Blissful." Web log post. Gap Year. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://www.travelblissful.com/tag/gap-year/>.