Wanderlust: The Unrelenting Desire to Explore

There is a feeling that starts deep within your soul, an intense urge to explore and discover the world. You find yourself consumed by the desire to wander and to immerse yourself in new cultures, cuisines, and experiences. This is the feeling of wanderlust, a powerful force that drives you to explore the world, to seek adventure, and to live life to the fullest.

For those with wanderlust, the world is a place of infinite possibilities. Here are 15 things that only people with wanderlust would understand.

1. You Hate Being Tied Down in One Place

Whether you are in your hometown or a city far away, the feeling of wanderlust makes it impossible to remain comfortable in one environment. You need new stimulation, new experiences, and new challenges. The routine and familiarity of your current environment are suffocating, and you find yourself looking for any means of escape. This feeling is a curse in the moment, but it is a blessing in disguise, as it will motivate you to explore and follow your heart.

2. You Wonder Why Everybody Is Not Travelling

You ask yourself why everyone around you seems content to do the same monotonous things day after day when there is a whole world out there waiting to be explored. Wanderlust does not strike everyone equally, but for those who experience it, it is difficult to understand why others do not share the same desire to explore and discover.

3. You Live Vicariously Through Others

You find yourself lost in a torrent of stunning and envy-inducing images on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, magazines, and other forms of media. Your mind wants to live vicariously through the travel images of others until you find yourself there in reality. While this is a great method for staying motivated to make travel your life, be careful not to get too content with watching others make it.

4. You Try to Find Variety in Daily Life

You seek variations in the minutiae of daily life in an effort to wring any last excitement from your current environment. Taking a new path on the way to work, changing the order of your daily activities, or trying different foods becomes essential, as all of these things and others like them are fundamentals in travel.

5. You Are Mistaken for a Hermit

Sometimes, people misunderstand the desire to escape as a desire to leave civilization entirely and to live solo in a beach hut in Mexico. In reality, you wish to escape so you can feel more connected to the world and its inhabitants. To travel is to bond, to explore is to embrace change. The feeling of isolation is often misinterpreted as individuality, but you know what you want, and you should not let the motives of others deter you from getting it.

6. You Feel Like a Nomad Among Settlers

Sometimes, you feel as though you are the only one wearing rose-colored glasses. You are a fork placed amongst knives, and it is easy to doubt yourself and your need to explore when those around you have no interest in such things. Do not be deterred, as you know what you want, and you should not allow the motives of others to prevent you from getting it.

7. You Embrace Escapism

When you want to escape but your current circumstances will not permit it, you often find yourself getting lost in other forms of release. You daydream a lot, getting lost in your ideal life all within the confines of your imagination. Like point three, this can be a great tool for visualization but only in moderation. Do not forget to turn your dreams – or daydreams, for that matter – into reality.

8. You Wish to Meet People Like Yourself

Global exploration is known to be one of the greatest means of meeting those with similar interests to yourself. People prone to travel tend to be the more outlandish and open-minded types, often a product of traveling itself. You know this, you want to be this, and you know that if you can just get on a plane and go, you will be happier than ever before.

9. You Feel Like Your Life Would Be Complete If Only You Could Travel

A slice is missing from your heart, and travel is a perfect match. If you could travel, you would be the most complete, fulfilled, and well-rounded version of yourself. This is what many people call “finding themselves,” although it is an inaccurate term since we are all products of our environments in the first place. Nevertheless, you know you would be a warmer, kinder, and less frustrated person, and that is a great reason to go in itself.

10. You Cannot Decide Where You Want to Go First

When you want to leave where you are, planning your trip is difficult. Ironically, planning where to go takes up a smaller portion of your time, but when you eventually get round to it, you may face great difficulty. Where do you begin? South America or SE Asia? Europe or Africa? You know you have research to do, so do not let yourself get to your golden opportunity to begin with no plan in mind.

11. Your 9-5 Feels Like a 9-9

When you realize how amazing our planet is, having to work in a routine-based job day after day becomes nearly impossible. You loathe it. You want to run away from it and never come back. Wanderlust changes you; it’s powerful and can often have a considerable impact on how you live your life.

12. You Start Saving a Travel Fund

Small things here and there become trivial. You equate the price of that new pair of shoes or that new sweater to how many extra days you could travel. It’s funny to notice yourself doing this. “$60 for that? That’s two more days on the road, no thanks.”

13. You Start Taking Micro-Adventures

You take a bus or train ride here or there, finding yourself 50 miles from home, testing out the water to see how you feel in the wild unknown. This moment is important for any would-be traveler because it is when you find out whether you are cut out for the traveling life. If you do not panic when you feel lost or when you have no signal on your phone, you know you are a nomad through and through.

14. You Feel at Home Wherever You Go

When your mind gets used to the idea that you won’t be hanging around in any one place for a prolonged period of time, everywhere starts to feel like home. You no longer crave that secure base when you first left, but instead, you fit right into place, no matter the country, the language, or the culture.

15. You Become Willing to Try Anything

Bungee jumping? Sure. Weird-looking cuisine? Why not! When wanderlust strikes, your mind opens up like a flower to the world around it. Anything becomes your everything. You realize that you are the most open-minded, wise, and outgoing version of yourself, and that you are the happiest you have ever been. You could not trade it for the world, because the world gave it to you in the first place.

Conclusion

Wanderlust is a powerful force that drives us to explore and discover the world. People with wanderlust understand the need for adventure, the desire to seek out new adventures, and the drive to live life to the fullest. If you have wanderlust, embrace it, and allow it to take you on a journey of discovery and growth. By doing so, you may find some of the most life-changing experiences of your future.