From the day of my very first flight which was a one-way ticket, solo, to discover California, everything about the unknown and unseen led to emotions unfelt by me till then. That same rush was instantly amplified by feeling fearless and free, leading me to discover something about me, travel is my freedom.
Travel quenches my thirst for adventure and allows me to celebrate my curiosity while feeding my soul.
The toughest part of 2020 for me was our borders closing. I suddenly felt trapped, suffocated, stunted and afraid, keeping in mind, I relate my freedom to travel.
Though I may have found a way to adapt to everything else 2020 delivered pretty well, this I will admit not so much. Daily I obsessed, researched and followed any and all news about where and when anyone from the US could travel and stick to one of my promises to myself I made to myself on my 30th Birthday – to get at least one passport stamp a year.
I didn’t feel free. My freedom, the moments I walk through airports, people watching, thinking back to that first flight, feeling fearless. The impending adventure satisfying my curiosity and feeding my soul, I was craving those emotions in a big way.
Finally, one fine day in October as I am doing my daily travel research, two countries opened to US Citizens, Portugal & Turkey. As random as this sounds, I had a project lined up earlier in the year in Istanbul, Turkey, that we had to put off till the borders re-opened. After dancing around celebrating, I got right on my shit and reached out to my contact in Istanbul. We worked together to navigate every detail to make this project and my passport stamp happen in 2020.
Hearing that stamp hit my passport at the airport in Istanbul was orgasmic.
A real panty dropper!