Why I Travel

I travel because I like to experience new places.  Everything about going somewhere new excites me.  My reasons for traveling line up with Iyer's very well.  But there were some things that he said that I had not even thought of until I read them and it opened my mind and I agreed completely with what he said.  Everything he wrote about I felt the same, because as he says "for seeing without feeling can obviously be uncaring; while feeling without seeing can be blind".  This shows how you really have to take what you are experiencing and really live life to the fullest because without that the wisdom you could have gained can be lost.

When I read the quote, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new places, but in seeing with new eyes" it made me realize how true this really was.  When you go and see a place you have never dreamed of you have to look at it through "new eyes", and by that I would think a different perspective.  Through this quote I think Iyer was trying to show that you are not supposed to go look at the barrier reef in Australia as the person you came as but the person you want to be, or a person who works there throughout their everyday life.  This relates to me because this is how I want to view things when we travel.  I want to be able to remember it with feelings and not just a snap shot image in my mind.  I want to get the full experience and gain knowledge from this trip not just a picture I can hang on my wall.

When Iyer says, "what gives value to travel is fear" I think he means that as in when fear is involved it was an unexpected moment.  The unexpected and unplanned moments are the ones that you should remember because it was not an event out of a travel guide but a real life experience that you have to face with courage.  When I think of how this can relate to my journey I think of how I can not try to plan everything, but also plan myself for the unexpected.

When Iyer talks about how he finds travelers as "carrier pigeons" I agree with him.  I think that when you get home from a new destination you should not keep all the knew knowledge and facts to yourself.  One should share their information with everyone and anyone, to pass the knowledge from a person who experienced it themselves is way more exhilarating then what one would get out of a book.  First hand experience is always the best way to learn but when you know from personal learning then I would find it to be just as knowledgeable and fulfilling.

My favorite quote throughout the reading was, "so travel, for many, is a quest for not just the unknown but the unknowing".  I chose this as my favorite quote because it really explains my views on traveling.  Traveling is not only for people with money and its not only for people who research every little piece of information on a destination before they go.  Traveling is for everyone and anyone, the unknown should be found by the unknowing.  And by that I mean that anyone should be able to find something new to share with the world.  Traveling should be exhilarating for everyone, not just getting a tan on the beach but forming ones self from the unknowing to the knowing.

My name is Kelsy

Hey, I'm Kelsy. The color orange lights up my life. I have a pretty awesome car that is orange as well.  I've been dancing my whole life, well basically since I was two.  I am on the Varsity Poms Team at our school.  I am an only child and I love it.  It has brought me really close with my parents.  School means a lot to me.  I am involved in the NHS Chapter at our school it really pushes me to succeed in school.  After my high school experience I am hoping to double major in Neuroscience and Marine Biology.

I signed up for this course because I thought that it would be an experience of a lifetime.  When I got the letter in the mail that there was a trip that was being offered that would be going to Australia I knew I had to go.  It has been my dream since I can remember to go to Australia.  I am so excited to have this opportunity.

I am hoping to learn about the Australian culture.  I also want to know how Australia and New Zealand how become the countries they are today. I want to learn the history.  But I don't only want to focus on the main things about a country.  While learning about all of that I want to know about home life and about what the kids our age do on their free time.  I also want to know a lot about the barrier reef because one of my future career interests would involve the marine life that is living there.

I am specifically interested in the barrier reef in Australia because as I have previously said the marine life that is living there could be a major part of my career option.  What I am going to experience with the wildlife will make the trip for me.  I am so interested in the ocean that knowing I get to go snorkeling is so exciting.

I think learning about a new traveling destination helps expand your experience.  I feel like if I learn more about where we will be traveling I can get more out of the experience.  I can "live the experience" instead of having a trophy of a trip.  I like knowing what I am seeing other than just seeing without knowing.  It makes me appreciate what I am experiencing.  When you know more information then a travel guide can give you, you can rely on having a successful and insightful trip.