WANDERLUST (n.) A strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world.
Last year, a
week before my birthday, when I was 25 about to turn 26, I had my “quarter of a
life crisis”. I reached my 3rd year as a bank teller, and I was
panicking about the plateau I hit that seemed impossible to move upward from. I
had no idea where my career or life was going. Now this year, as I have just
turned 27, I am more focused and well on my way to a successful career in the
Beauty Industry working with ipsy.
Although
I’ve remained dedicated to accomplishing my career goals this past year, I found
that I don’t take enough time to reflect and appreciate what’s actually in
front of me. Not in the simple sense that I Instagram every moment of my life,
whether it's my meals or majestic views from my outdoor workouts, but in
that I do not embrace life’s moments and opportunities to wander. I am
definitely proud of everything I’ve accomplished, but I know that I want to see more
and do more with my life.
At ipsy, we
have a weekly lunch roulette where we are paired with other team members that
we may not get the opportunity to interact with on a daily basis. I love how these
lunches allow us to get to know each other in a more informal setting. In my
last lunch roulette, as we were going around the table telling our “story”, I
quickly realized how uneventful my life has been thus far. My co-workers have
stories of picking up their lives to move to California or exciting tales of
living in other countries, whereas, I was born and raised in the San Francisco
Bay Area. Besides a brief period of time, when I moved to Merced, CA for
college, I haven’t done much traveling. I’ve always said that I wanted to see
the world, to explore and go on adventures whenever possible. I’ve been on a
few family vacations to Germany, France, and the Philippines, but I have since developed
a wanderlust.
I want to
experience something new and different. It’s time to leave California and go on
a real adventure. I want to see the world: The Great Pyramid of Giza, the
Colosseum in Rome, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, the Taj
Mahal, and so much more. I want to rent a glass igloo in Finland and see the
Northern Lights. The list goes on and on.
Said
beautifully in French, “Le monde est un livre et ceux qui
ne voyagent pas lire une seule page.” (The world is a book and those who
do not travel read only one page.) So far I have only read the first page of my
world and my life, but I eagerly look forward to my future adventures. Like the Disney Pixar movie UP, "Adventure's Out There!" It's just up to me to take the next step.
Do you have a thirst for travel and adventure? If you
could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
xoxo
Denise Joyce