Piece #3: Awareness of Audience and Voice

We are Travelers, Hear Us Roar

Traveling is a Community. Traveling is a passion of the adventurous folks who have a burning desire to experience new places and cultures. This is what makes us travelers – hear us roar. Sitting on the AirPorter and looking at your watch wondering if you’ve packed everything, or in my case, too much; trying to let go of the stress from work and start enjoying yourself; hoping there won’t be a huge line at immigration so you can just get started on your latest adventure. These are all pieces of the anticipation that go along with travel. What each traveler chooses to do with their adventure is up to them. Some choose to explore every corner within this United States; some only want to explore Europe; some Mexico or Hawaii; and there are some like me whose list of travel encompasses pretty much everything out there. I personally have never said, “Oh, I don’t have any desire to go there,” as I desire to see it all. The text specifically asked us to choose a daily activity and while travel may not be a daily activity for me, as much as I wish it were, it is for some people. I recently met a couple while I was on my first cruise that hop from cruise ship to cruise ship because they love being at sea so much but did not want the responsibility of owning a boat. They in fact sold their home because they didn’t ever want to go back to a “normal” life.

Traveling is not defined by an age, although sometimes it can be defined by how big your pocketbook is. Traveling is the feeling of being welcomed into a brand new environment by complete strangers, learning about the past and tasting foods that are foreign to us. And oh, how great the food is. A favorite pastime of travelers is discussing with new people where their own personal travels have taken them. And, travelers love to tell their stories, let me tell you. Have I ever told you about the time I spent St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland…

One of the biggest tensions that work against the traveling community is scary situations happening in the world. For instance, the war in Iraq has put a major damper on travel in the Middle East. The unwarranted killing of people in Mexico or most recently in the last few weeks the outbreak of Swine Flu has made people question whether they should be traveling to Mexico and the list goes on. There are many countries that have a government that is not as structured as our own. This can make non-travelers question whether they should in fact leave their homes. However, the diehard true to form traveler does not let anything stand in his or her way. If it’s our day to go, hopefully we’ll be in another country enjoying a beautiful piece of architecture or eating a wonderful pastry when it happens.

Traveling is my community and the fellow travelers are my peeps. I desire more, want to see more, and want to share what I’ve seen, etc. That is why I fit into this group. I am lucky that I have a career that affords me to do all that I want in this area. There was a time in my younger days where I just couldn’t afford it, or didn’t have any vacation to use. Sometimes this is still the case yet I plan my travel anyway. You see, someone that has a passion for travel is not inhibited by money or time, they are empowered by the lack there of.