20 Countries 10 Years Later

Ever since I was little, I knew I always wanted to see the world.

But to be honest, that dream didn’t come from experience.
It came from my imagination and knowing that there was so much life to live in this world.

Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate in many ways, but travel wasn’t something we had a lot of access to. The only way I had ever seen the world was through a screen.

Maybe it was The Lizzie McGuire Movie when she went to Rome.
Or maybe it was The Cheetah Girls 2 movie and wanting to see how beautiful Spain looked myself.

Or maybe it was my obsession with Fast Five that had 13 year old me convinced that life existed somewhere bigger, better, cooler.

But I didn’t just want to see it.
I wanted to feel it.

I wanted to be a part of it. Exploring every nook and cranny, every soul, every late night, every bright museum, every loud coffee shop, every quiet body of water.  

And now, it’s wild to say… but I’ve been to all three countries little me would watch on a screen and only dream about.

Rome. Spain. And now Brazil, my 20th country.

When I was nearing 18, I knew the first thing I wanted to do was leave the country. So, like most freshly 18 year olds with more confidence than money, I booked a trip to Mexico.

I definitely wasn’t rolling in equity, money nor knowledge.
I was figuring all of this out for the first time with very little guidance.
And yes… I obviously came back home with Montezuma’s revenge because 18 year old me was that naive.

But that trip cracked something open in me.

It taught me more things about myself truly, than all my years of scholastic education combined.
Because when you step outside of everything familiar, you meet yourself differently. You meet yourself more honestly. You meet yourself authentically.

And once I felt that feeling, I couldn’t unknow it.

Travel, for me, was never just about booking a trip.
It was about what I was willing to do to experience something transcendent and beautiful.

To be able to understand the world a little more deeply.
To be able to step into something new and feel overwhelmingly excited about the adventure ahead.

To feel ready to get lost in a World entirely different than your own. 

To feel each city’s unique soul, its rhythm, its vibrant energy.
To understand its food, its history, its people,  its culture, and to experience what makes it unique.

I realized I would be willing to do a lot. So… 

It meant working 50+ hours while going to school full time.
It was juggling two jobs and still choosing to put money toward a plane ticket.
It was being willing to do whatever it took to build a life that felt exciting to me.

There were a lot of Spirit flights… and yes I did have to bring my own seat belt.
Lots of red eye flights and too many redbulls.
Learning how to read maps without any service.
Understanding how to trust my intuition when I didn’t know the language, or the currency, or what to expect next.

It was getting lost more times than i’d like to admit.
And thinking that spending 18 hours in an airport in China was a good idea because I booked the cheapest flight I could find to get to Bali.

It was a lot of “what am I doing?” moments. Lots of internal reflection and taking personal accountability of myself.

When you’re jet lagged, frustrated, staying somewhere that doesn’t feel like home, and slowly losing your sense of routine; all while life back home keeps moving without you, you meet the most honest version of yourself.

Am I patient?
Am I capable?
Can I trust myself?
Can I stay calm when things don’t go my way?
Can I make decisions without having to rely on someone else first?

Can I relinquish control, and respect the journey; instead of just trying to accomplish the destination?

And If I’m being honest, the first few trips felt scary. Honestly, sometimes they still feel a little scary. 

But there’s also something electric about it.

That feeling of finally figuring it out.
Of finding your footing in a completely unfamiliar place.
Of realizing you can create comfort and home anywhere.

That a smile means the same wherever your at. 

That all in the same breath, the world is yours to have and to experience. That if you're brave enough to look at the World, oftentimes you’ll see it looking back. 

Finally feeling that magic where you know the journey brought you to this exact moment , in this exact place, in this exact time. That every little decision you’ve made led you exactly to where you are, and that it was all divine timing. 

When your toes finally touch the warm Brazilian sand, or you taste that first Aperol Spritz on an Italian Coast, or your seeing a real castle for the first time, all the magic you worked hard for has finally manifested into this moment. 

Every country handed me a different mirror.

Some gave me stillness.
Some gave me courage.
Some gave me independence I didn’t know I was capable of.

Some gave me music that vibrated every fiber of my body.

Some gave me laughs so loud I wanted to bottle them. 

I’ve sat in a hot spring in the Arctic Circle, watching steam disappear into glaciers.
I’ve stood in a place where my family once lived and felt deeply connected to something foreign yet like home to me. Listening to the same Spanish Church bells that they once called to.

I watched a full beautiful double rainbow grow as I left my face soak in all of the Ireland Rain. 

I bathed a beautiful and gracious rescue elephant in Bali; feeling my soul connect to something more ancient and understanding than I've ever known. 

I stood in front of three Wonders of the World and felt impossibly small. 

I cried at the Vatican. 

I danced until sunrise in Greece.

And somewhere in between all of that… I changed.

It’s not about collecting flags or the little momentos.
It’s about who I became in between all of the wonderful, transcendent moments of my life and letting this World shape me into who I was meant to be.

Between the girl who had never left the United States and the woman who now books international flights without question.

Between the girl who thought the world ended in California, and the woman who now truly understands how vast this world can be. 

Between the girl who only knew the world through movies.
And the 28 year old who just returned from Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

There’s something powerful about choosing expansion. Something powerful about choosing the life you want.

Travel has this way of reminding you that your world is not the only world.

It made me grateful for the life, foundation, and community that I choose to build. 

It showed me that adventure and stability can coexist. That you can build a beautiful life and still let your soul explore wildly.

I don’t know what the next ten years will hold.

But I do know this:

I will keep choosing expansion.
I will keep choosing curiosity.
I will keep choosing the kind of life that feels worth living.

I will keep exploring and having fun and making memories and chasing beautiful Sunsets. I will keep choosing me and my life and all of the beautiful imperfect moments that fill it. 

Here’s to the girl who always knew she wanted more.
And here’s to the 28 year old that gave her everything she ever wanted. 

Cheers to twenty countries, Cheers to wherever we find Wonder next, and Cheers to our Twenty-Somethings!

Rayna xoxo