World Travel. It’s pretty self-explaining… Traveling the world.
But before I went to Italy my sophomore year, the world I knew consisted of my small town and the high school I attended. Traveling the world was getting in the car and driving to Wal*Mart. Then, that spring I was givin the amazing opportunity to go to Italy with a small group of students from school.
When I stepped on the plane to head across the sea, I was filled with an overwhelming rush of emotions. I was anxious, excited, scared, I didn’t know what to expect. Needless to say, what I would discover would surpass all my expectations.
As soon as the daunting, ten hour flight skidded to a halt, my heart was racing and pumping out of my chest! We finally got out of the airport and I took my first breath of air, halfway across the world. After meeting our tour guide, we immediately got on a bus and began our journey across Italy. As we passed so many different historical castles and landmarks, I was filled with this surreal feeling, like I was in a dream.
Pictures can show us the marvelous things across the world, but one really can’t grasp that they trully exist until one sees them, feels them. As the days passed and we saw more, I began to feel like my ‘world’ at home was so small, and there was so much more out there to discover. Before we left for Italy, I felt as if I knew everything.
But when we got there, I felt as if I was so unaware of the world. There are so many different dimensions and marvelous things in the world that people are just too busy to notice! When we left Italy, I took many souveniers with me — beautiful shirts and knick-knacks — but one thing I took home with me will never get lost or faded, and that is the eye-opening lesson I learned. The knowledge that the world is a huge, beautiful, and diverse place.
The understanding that landscapes and cultures may be different across the globe, but people arent. Humanity’s heart beats as one… and it is up to all of us to open our minds and hearts and work as one to save the beautiful diversity of our planet.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
