Earlier today, I stumbled upon this article on BBC Travel, and it was a wonderful read.
It moved me, for many reasons.
Because at sunrise in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, at the rugged, empty edge of the habitable world, I felt small again.
– Andy Isaacson, writer
Travel makes you take a step back. It makes you walk those little (or big) feet of yours backwards, and plant your butt down in the grass, dirt, mud, or tile. It makes you sit there, gawking at whatever beautiful moment is in front of you, and exhale. You exhale long and large, and you realize how insignificant we are, but even more so, how much we matter. How much everything matters, but no matter what happens, this moment will always be present and unchanged. It has no sympathy–it just is.
Because I made it to Bhutan, the most spiritual and magical country I have ever visited, and helped prepare and serve soup to young monks at a monastery. It was an honour.
– Eric Ripert, chef
The reasons we love the world aren’t about the vistas we look at, the photos we bring home, or the number of stamps in our passports. They are based entirely on the moments–the ones intricately significant in ways we cannot always justify or explain. But sometimes, there is no need to share and no need to define. Knowing how they mattered is enough.
Because although I travel around the world to shoot athletes in amazing places, I always end up back in Yosemite. And the more I travel, the more I love this place so close to home.
– Jimmy Chin, photographer
Home is where the heart is, where the family is, and where the here and now is. A wise Chinese proverb once said, “Make my home everywhere within the four seas.” Home is what you define it as. Home is in Beijing, in Illinois, and in the other corners of the world I have yet to devote myself to. Home is what matters.
With everything chaotic that plagues our world today, it’s important to remember to love it. Seek out the beauty. Be in the moment, feel small, and discover where you call home.
What’s my reason to love the world?
Because each time I travel and find myself uncomfortable and out of place, I learn. About myself, my surroundings, my place in it all. And it just leaves me hungrier for more encounters, more interactions with those who I have nothing in common with. Maybe I’ll find that we’re not so different after all.
What’s yours?
Leah vs. The World 