Great opportunity requires sacrifice.

To be able to travel around the world is one of the greatest opportunities. However, it is not an opportunity to be wasted, make the most of it and do the most you can do.
Growing up with extremely hardworking parents, my family and I have always been blessed with the opportunity to travel. They have always taught me that rewards do not just come, they require great work and sacrifice. My parents are two of the most hardworking people I have ever, and will ever know. They don’t take no for an answer, and they never put in 75% or 85%, always 100%. 

The amount of sacrifices that they have both made in order for my siblings and I to have the blessed life that we do, inspires me more and more everyday to ‘ work harder. My dad especially instilled in me and taught me an amazing work ethic from a young age, as my grandma instilled hard work in him from an early age as well. I am incredibly fortunate to have such great examples of dedicated and diligent individuals in my life. It is because of his, and my mom’s hard work, that I have had the opportunities to visit so many amazing places.

If traveling could be a profession, I would be the first to volunteer. Exploring places and scenery different from where I come from is so interesting to me. Every time I visit a new place, my initial thought is, what is everyday life like here? 

What do people do when they wake up? Where is the best coffee? What are the high schools like here? Where are the hotspots? Best restaurants? Are they more chains or local places? Every trip is a new adventure, an adventure that will never get old. The first ever trip that I remember from the earliest time in my life, was our cruise to Alaska when I was 4. Even though the glimpses of memory are brief and limited, the scenery has stuck with me ever since, along with the feeling of excitement of being somewhere that I had never been before.

The smells, tastes, sights and sounds of new places are always exciting. Stepping off of the place or getting out of the car, and taking in all of the new surroundings. Just to have a chance to escape from normal life and pretend like you’re starting over for a few days in a new place is so liberating. Life can get rough at times, and running away is not the answer. However, escaping for a bit then coming back to the problem is not the same thing as running away.

To be able to cleanse my mind of all things bad, or even sometimes good, and just being completely soaked up in the destination, is healing for me. Whether that be in the serenity of the sun and the sand or standing in the middle of Times Square, experiencing any new place for the first time and picturing myself having a potential life there is what I live for.