Why I Wander

THIS IS WIP – JUST SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE COPY

People often ask me why I wander.

The honest answer is that I don’t wander to escape life. I do it to return to it. There’s something about leaving behind the routines, the schedules I follow and the endless spinning of my everyday life. I love to wake up somewhere unfamiliar with no idea quite how the day is going to unfold. To walk down a road just because I’m curious where it goes. To sit somewhere for longer than I probably need to, simply because it feels good to be there.

Travel has never been about ticking countries off a list. I’m not particularly interested in collecting passport stamps just for the sake of saying I’ve been somewhere. For me, it’s about collecting moments. The early morning coffee in a town that’s only just waking up. A conversation with somebody whose life is completely different from mine. A bus journey that doesn’t quite go according to plan. Turning a corner and finding a view I wasn’t expecting. Sitting quietly somewhere beautiful and realising that, for once, I’m not thinking about what I need to do next. Those are the things I remember. And I think wandering teaches me to notice them. I slow down. I look around. I become curious again. I start paying attention to the little things that are so easy to walk straight past when my life has become too familiar.

Not every journey needs to be epic either. Sometimes it’s simply taking the road you’ve never taken before, walking a little further, staying a little longer or simply wondering what might be around the next corner. I think that curiosity is a big part of it for me.

What’s over there?
It’s a ridiculously simple question, but it has taken me to some extraordinary places. And every journey leaves me a little different. Not necessarily in some profound, life-changing way. Sometimes it’s much quieter than that. A different perspective. A story I didn’t have before. A person I’m glad I met. A place I know I’ll think about in years to come.

Maybe that’s why I keep wandering.
Because however comfortable life becomes, every now and then I need to step away from the familiar, get a little lost, look around…
…and touch the world again