Travelling Before Settling
by Zahra Khozema, Storyteller with RU Student Life
Do you ever feel like there is something euphoric about airports? The way we divide arrivals and departures, the way both of these settings are identical yet assigned to opposite dimensions of our spectrum of emotions. At one, we are welcomed with the comforts of hugs and kisses, decorated with smiles, and at the other we sometimes find smiles a little more forced, as prayers and well-wishings send someone off and away.
Airports are strategically designed liminals that evoke this love/hate relationship depending on which side you end up on. Nonetheless, it is a space we have to learn to grow accustomed towards. It is the starting point of a journey that changes not only the traveller, but the lives of everyone around them. Travelling is a dessert you’re never too young or too old to overdose on. You know it is temporary, as if flirting with life, saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go.” However you put it, the travel burden can only be taken off the shoulders when you tell it’s stories, repeat them like mantras to inspire others. It is said that “life is a book and those who do not travel have only read a page.” We are so used to reading a Wiki page here and there, skimming academic journals, and making lists- for a while, this single ‘page’ might suffice. But twenty years down the road, are you going to remember page 385 of your GMS textbook or the semester you spent in Singapore?
I have been lucky enough to have started travelling at a young age with my parents. If I could turn back time or be in any authority to give advice, it would be to take time off to travel — whether right after high school or between undergraduate semesters. Yes, it’s not cheap and many parents are not always keen on it, but it is a rite of passage. You don’t have to cross seas, you may not even cross borders, but just learning how to individually survive in different settings and experiencing different cultures is itself a version of travel. When you’re away, you might find you learn more about yourself and your own city than you do the place you’re visiting. Saying you’ll make time to travel after graduation is a fairytale we long to believe but a swift reality check will have you stressing about your debts, finding a job, and starting your career and/or family.
Traveling sometimes puts you in tough situations. You see that the world is so much bigger than your perspective on it. You soon realize the world doesn’t revolve around you. You learn that you really weren’t the big fish in the ocean, but just a tiny minnow in a pothole. Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t still important, but it does change your perspective to be more open to learning from other people and situations.
Sadly, I never liked history in school. Just reading the stories in books seemed so boring to me. However, when I visited the Pyramids of Giza, the theories of how they were built absorbed me; I marvelled at how the faiths came together at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The canals and parking lots filled with bikes in Amsterdam are a commuter’s dream; and bargaining in the bazaars of Najaf, Iraq in charades made me want to take up a new language. Through all this I couldn’t help but get a new appreciation for history. Traveling makes history come alive. The stories are no longer pictures in a book, but tangible memories you remember much longer than anything you could study in school.
I think a lot of young people put off traveling because they want to be responsible, work hard, get married, have kids, and build up a life. However, I think it’s a mistake to put off traveling in exchange for the belief that you can do it when you retire and “have more time.” While we certainly plan to continue to travel after retirement, it’s also important to realize old age is not guaranteed. If something happens and we don’t live to see the forties, fifties, or sixties, we should have no regrets. We should experience the world to the best of our ability by taking every opportunity presented to us to see all of this gorgeous planet that we possibly can. Traveling has made me the person that I am, and I’m so grateful that I have plenty of years left with this version of me to continue the adventure.
With so many opportunities all over campus like the Ryerson International Exchange Program, clubs like Abroad Study Break (ASB), internships and co-op placements, international courses, volunteering missions, reading breaks organized by the RSU, team sports, etc, travel of any sort can be incorporated into your academics.
Sound right up your alley? Heading on a trip soon? Recount your destination memories, your temporary romance, the new encounters, your instagram worthy food and document your trip! Share your experience with RU Student Life through photos, music, videos, blogs, if you can social media it, we can publish it. Share your travels with #RUAbroad and become a part of the storytelling community of Ryerson to inspire others to take the initiative to travel!
