Monthly Archives: December 2012

Even though we won’t be celebrating Diwali in India, I cannot wait for our five weeks there. If anyone has any suggestions for great places to know, please send them my way! So far we are planning on drinking all the chai in the country, doing yoga in Rishikesh, seeing the sunset ceremonies in Varanasi, and taking a camel safari because c’mon, ya gotta!

This picture that I came across inspired me today and got me even more excited than yesterday, which was my birthday, and I was gifted with some awesome new supplies! My Mom got me my pack, a 60 L Gregory in Bodega Blue, it’s beautiful and hopefully as functional as they say. I also got a daypack from a mysterious donor on my Amazon registry, a headlamp from my Grandma, money from my Dad (thanks, Dad!), a “flashlight” (read: taser) from my Aunt Alice, a journal from my Aunt Kathy, a Klean Kanteen from a family friend, a digital camera from my stepmom, and from my best friend Leif a KA-BAR combat knife for my protection and to up my kickass-ness tenfold! Of course, Dad has already helped me start looking into knife fighting classes. Also, my travel buddy and BFF made me a globe cake:

There’s still a lot to be purchased though, so if anyone was planning on gifting me a Christmas present: FEEL FREE! Nothing will go to waste, I promise!

It’s great to be 23! My dad says 23 was one of the best years of his life, here’s hoping I can follow in his footsteps, though it’ll be a bit longer of a path 😀

Planning a trip around the world is serious business. Do you start in Fiji? Do you start in South America? Do you talk about it all?

People seem to have the same reaction when you lay it on them that you’re living out of a backpack for a year to wash baby elephants and eat weird fruits. You’ve been tuning into the travel channel’s many cultural exploits, discerning how easy it would be if you didn’t have a network budget and a camera crew. You still feel pretty okay about it.

Sometimes, thinking about not seeing anybody you know for a year, thinking about getting into the wrong cab or meeting the wrong people scares the shit out of you. What are you going to do when you get stuck at customs in Kenya? Do you have a plan? You don’t. But you take a deep breath and tell yourself you’ll figure it out, and you’ll be all the better for it.

Things you have to remember:

I)     Despite your plans for African adventure and time spent near the sea, you will not be living like Hemingway.

II)   Even though everyone tells you to write a book about this, and then just “coast”, remember this trip is about making memories as quickly as possible. You have to take the chances one right after the other and then hope you remember the way it felt on the 18 hour bus ride.

III) You will be peeing into holes in the ground. You will come out of this experience all the better for it.

IV) Everything is going to be okay, because everything happens for a reason, you just have to remember to wear sunscreen.

Everyone is worried for you. So worried you almost feel like you don’t have to worry yourself. You aren’t worried though, because when you come back, at least, this is what you tell yourself, you will be a totally different person, and that person doesn’t have to worry about having an hour to get ready for the party, because no matter how you look you’ll have the best stories, and isn’t that what really matters?

Right now everyone is mad at you because you are going around the world for a year. Seeing everything and eating everything and sleeping on floors in countries with civil wars and poisonous bugs and as much as they are looking forward to their entry level jobs and first years of graduate school, they want to come too. They’re mad at you because you get to be the one to use your zoom lens on the poisonous bug and eat the weird fruit and have the best stories. So you can’t be scared, you just have to go, because you’ll be all the better for it.

Dear Young Traveler,

Anthony Bourdain once said: “If you’re 22, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.”

My advice? Just go.

Just go, and at any age, because, the real question is, why wouldn’t you?

Go drop your fears.

Go take EVERY CHANCE.

Go take a road trip with your friends. Go book a plane ticket to a land far away. Go spend money that you don’t have.  Go get stranded. Go hitchhike. Go learn the histories of other peoples and cultures. Go learn about their triumphs and their fatalities. Go with just a backpack.  Go eat foods you have never tried. Go question yourself and question the world. Go learn about what is important.  Go wake up early and hike a volcano. Go stay out late drinking beer and wine around a fire with the locals. Go take pictures. Go put the camera down and just take it in. Go sit in cafes and ponder a city. Go get a tattoo. Go meet people that will change your life. Go immerse yourself in nature. Go learn a language. Go challenge yourself and do something you never would think of. Go listen to stories. Go to museums. Go read everything. Go take a gamble on hostels and random floors. Go keep a journal and write everything. Go without a guidebook. Go make your own plan. Go educate yourself. Go take it all in.

And, if you’re like me. Go and fall in love.

Fall in love with cities. Fall in love with states.

Fall in love with countries. Fall in love with people.

The world is yours. All you have to do is GO.

And remember, home will always be waiting.

May you find nothing but happiness and adventure.

Viaje Seguro,
Bailey B. 
P.S. Don’t forget an open mind, a full heart, a pocketknife, a box of matches, and Kleenex.

Bailey runs the blog postcardsfrommytwenties.tumblr.com

You can find more letters like these at: moreloveletters.com