Why It Pays to Have A Gypsy Soul in Your 20s

When I was younger, the two states I had been to were the ones I had lived in – Arizona and California (unless layovers in Nevada count). Traveling was never been a thing for my family. I didn’t really need to travel. Everything I needed was in those two states.

By the age of 22, I realized how wrong that statement was. After I graduated college, I was offered an internship in Orlando, FL. So just like that, I stuffed my little black mustang to the brim and left home. I had decided to make a cross country trip out of the drive and visit some friends on my way there. I visited my best friend in New Jersey, a friend in Louisville, and my favorite part of the trip was exploring Nashville for two days by myself.

Although the driving was rough, and I got lonely at times, that road trip was unquestionably the best week of my life. I got to see so many sights, met a ton of great people, and learned a lot about the world as well as myself. Once I got to Florida, I lived in an apartment complex full of people also doing my internship and lived in a 3 bedroom apartment with 6 girls. Needless to say, meeting people wasn’t hard.

By the time I moved back home to Arizona, I was a new person. I loved the sense of “being home” for a while. After three months or so though, I gained a hunger for exploring the world. I had developed a gypsy soul.

Yeah sure, I may come off as someone who is never satisfied. I never want to stay in the same place. But, I think being single and in my early 20s is the perfect time to go through this phase. I don’t have anyone to answer to. No one has to provide for me, and I don’t have to provide for anyone else. I think every young adult should take advantage of their freedom and explore what the world has to offer for them.

Traveling allows you to see what is out there. The world has so much to offer you beyond your hometown. I took advantage and stopped wherever I could to check out the world. I stopped at museums, checked out places to eat and hang out and saw the sights. There is so much history in this country (and WORLD!) to learn about, and what better way to discover that than going to the place and learning from artifacts and people that are experts!

You will meet people. I have met so many different kinds of people from traveling and being surrounded by people from all over the world in Florida. I have friends from so many states and even different countries. It’s comforting knowing that I can go to a random state and the odds are pretty good that I know someone there. It’s good to have connections in places. And you make some pretty awesome friendships. When I stopped in Louisville, KY to visit a friend, he introduced me to the friends he had made after moving there. I have to say, to this day, they are the most hospitable people I have ever met in my life. You also connect by learning about different cultures! I made a friend from New Zealand and our favorite memory is when she was going on about how she loves cowboys and their natural muscles…from lifting cows. Most of my best friendships are long distance and I wouldn’t change that. It’s pretty cool being so connected all over the world, it’s what I am most thankful for in life.

You get some pretty cool stories. You know that older person you meet that always has these amazing stories from when they were younger? I want to be that person. I’ve got some great stories to share with people, and I’d like to keep them going. One day, I’d like to be the coolest grandma ever who’s always got some crazy story to tell her grandkids, while slipping them some cash.

You get to see what the world has to offer you. You won’t know unless you go out there and find out. I’ve learned that there is more to life than what I have had in Arizona and California. So much more. I’ve realized that I want to move on from it. Personally, I would love (and am currently working on) living in the south. The people are so much friendlier than in the west and states are smaller, meaning drives are shorter to go to cool places.

Having a gypsy soul doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m never going to be satisfied settling down in one place, it just means that I have a craving for exploring new places. I can now say I have been to half of the states in this country and I’ve visited Mexico, and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world. Traveling is great for the mind, and there is so much out there the world has to offer for you, you just need to go find it!