There’s only four ways to get unraveled; One is to sleep and the other is travel. – Jim Morrison

Hi there. It’s been much too long, friends. My reason for the delay is a good one, even though on principal I kind of hate lame excuses. But this one isn’t lame, I swear. I’ve been, you guessed it, traveling. Le sigh. I recently got back from a long cruise where I spent a good portion of time hiding from the sun, hanging with my wonderful family, slathering SPF all over my body, and eating my weight in ze foodz. Traveling is such a wonderful little thing we as humans are allowed to do. Our world is so vast, and we are so small, so it’s only natural we’d want to crawl over it like ants seeing whatever is possible during our little lifespan.

If you’re an ant, I’m an ant.

There are many reasons people travel, but true Ginger fashion, I’ve narrowed down my reasons to three. These are why I habitually stuff my things in a suitcase and hop onto flying contraptions at the blink of an eye.  My intent with this is to inspire a little wanderlust in you while giving you the push you need to plan that getaway and ant your way around the world (yep, ant is a verb now).

Reason 1: Traveling presses that reset button

Day after day, it’s easy to get caught up in that ever-expanding, ever-annoying to do list. Buy groceries, send 60982 emails, take a shower, mow the lawn, wash your hair (LOLZ), catch up every season of Gilmore Girls. You get it. Taking a much needed break allows you to do exactly what you want for a set period of time, to do list be damned.  Travel also makes a little headspace for life when you finish your trip (more on that later).  On a vacation you get to take long lunches (something I thoroughly believe in), sleep in, look at trees, sniff clean air (depending on where you’re traveling), talk to random people, do a cart-wheel, etc.

I can do these things most days, you say. My retort: When is the last time you did a cartwheel?

A real cartwheel, not the butt only in the air, feet never leaving the ground mess adults tend to do. Taking a vacation, at its core, is an act of spontaneity. It doesn’t matter how Type A, planned to the max you may try and make your vacations, something always sneaks up on you, and usually that thing is freaking LIFE. Traveling opens you up to the wacky, insane, beautiful, hilarious world we live in. You’re able to meet new people, hear new accents, try new food, look in the mirror at yourself in a new way. What’s even better is travel reminds us how very similar we all are.  At our very core, we all just want to laugh and love and eat good food, amiright? Travel grabs your hand in a non-creepy way and helps you press the reset button that seemed just out of your reach mere seconds before.

Reason 2: It forces you to make time

Time? Time for what? More like time for whatEVER (see what I did there). Traveling gives you space. Wherever your destination, for some reason a vacation gives you permission to do what you love–writing, reading, trying out a new language, running, telling a lame joke, experimenting in the kitchen or through ordering a new, wacky dish.  These are all things we’re allowed to do everyday, but for some reason we tend to prioritize them lower than something as riveting as investing money or paying a bill or picking up your puppy’s poo. Yes, technically those mundane things are important; however, on vacation your thought process is Heck I’m already giving myself free time, I might as well ____________(fill in the blank with frivolity aka fun).

But for the love of all that is holy, don’t judge yourself. If you relax by watching a couple episodes of Real Housewives of New York in a fluffy hotel bathrobe while attacking the food in the mini bar like a ravaged wolf, go for it! Something I always do before leaving for a trip is perusing a book store for the perfect book. Sometimes it’s a challenging book, sometimes it’s frothy and easy, but it’s always something I want. Then I use the vacation as an opportunity to tackle the book into submission. An added bonus is if I ever re-read the book, I’m instantly transported back to my vacation!

Reason 3: It reminds you why your life is pretty stinking awesome

One of my favorite feelings in the world is falling into my own bed after a long flight home. After vacation, no matter how fabulous, no matter how beautiful, there is truly no place like home (clicking the heels, donning the red shoes). Vacation both expands your horizons and allows you to zero in on why you’ve chosen your little slice of the earth as home. It’s great drinking a new, fancy schmancy latte from a fancy schmancy coffee shoppe where seats are tiny and uncomfortable and the lighting is perfect for Instagram, but it’s just not the same as the corner shop where they know your order and (occasionally) spell your name right on the cup. It’s almost like your life after a vacation is perfectly filtered–brighter, clearer, more likable. It might be ironic going somewhere else just to remember how awesome life is back home, but it’s an irony that this Katy or Katie or KT or Caidey (yes that’s happened before) is willing to accept

Now I’d love to hear from my fellow travel bugs. Why do you travel? What are things you bring on your trip to unwind? Is anyone as obsessed with RHONW as I am?