You're Never Gonna Suvive Unless....

YOU REALIZE THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN YOU.

A few years ago I felt this intense need to get out. To leave the town I was used to, the job I was at, the bed I was sleeping in, and the anxiousness of not knowing where I was going...all behind me.

I convinced two of my friends that driving across the country from New Haven, CT to Las Vegas, NV would be an awesome idea. We rented a red PT Cruiser and started driving. Funniest part of it all--I slept in the backseat for three days straight and only woke up during the beautiful parts of the country. HAHA SORRY GUYS!! But beautiful it was.

Here's the sunrise in Arkansas...

....and the sunset in New Mexico.

We made it all the way to the Grand Canyon (as I was rubbing the sleep from my eyes) but one friend hated bugs, nature, and apparently canyons so we stopped only for a few minutes then ran back to the cruiser. Someone obviously needed lipstick for the picture...

When we finally saw the highway signs for Las Vegas, our life was complete. And we did what any normal late adolscent girls would do. We changed into dresses and got on stage and sang karaoke within minutes of arriving.

Vegas was awesome, and we went back again a few months later. And then again, a few months after that. Same karaoke song, except this time we flew down there. I thought that would satisfy my craving, but my traveling bug was just starting to itch.

I flew to Lima, Peru and went paragliding.

Then I went parasailing in the Grand Cayman Islands with my little brother.

Ate pizza and went on a tour of the coliseum in Rome, Italy...

...then ran with a couple of bulls (and was scared to death) in Pamplona, Spain.

I clearly had a very serious photo shoot in the hills of Vermont,

and then I came home & sang karaoke all over again.

These pictures are not to make you envious (or bored if you're my friend and I showed you them 30 times already). It is to INSPIRE YOU!!! It is summer. Some of you are bored with your job, your friends, your location, your life. Some of you have only traveled with your parents, or never traveled at all. GET OUT AND GO SOMEWHERE. Even without a plan, it is the most amazing experience ever. If you have the urge to go, GO. Learn something about yourself and other people.

I took this picture of my parents in the Virgin Islands for the 25th wedding anniversary without them knowing I was taking it. There comes a point when you realize you are not the world, the world is way bigger than you. Incredible, humbling feeling that hopefully you will never forget.