The 'What the Hell' Factor

Why do we travel?

Why do we feel this inherent need to see the world?

I'm not sure about you but when I watch the news, read a book about a far away land or just daydream, I find myself wishing for new horizons. Why on Earth do we feel this way? The cynical part of me says that it is because life is boring which, in a sense, is true. Don't get me wrong I love where I live! It's bucolic, it's tranquil and the people are pretty decent. But I see the same tree as I look out my window every morning. I see the same bus stop on the opposite side of the street and we get stuck in a routine that can sometimes seem a bit monotonous. Sometimes we all feel a need to break free from the constraints of day to day life and just pop off to see the world for the wonder that it has in store. Travel gives us this sense of freedom. It gives us something different from our day to day existence of meetings, lessons and a cup of tea at 4pm (and then again as 5pm). Instead we get the opportunity to go on safari, to meet new people and to drink exotic tea at the scandalous time of 6 in the evening (I have had this experience and trust me it's marvellous). So rather than looking cynically at how mundane life is, I instead see it as an exciting opportunity to get out of routine and give yourself some memories that will last a lifetime.

Sorry to remain cynical and everything, but I think that the quest for good memories before we grow old and die is also a pretty good reason to seek adventure. I'll confess this straight away, I am pretty scared of dying. I enjoy life quite a bit and I would prefer it not to end with oblivion but hey, I guess we all have to live with it. But that's besides the point, what I'm really worried about is that I will approach the end of my life and find that I didn't do anything meaningful or I didn't do enough or I didn't meet enough people and the list goes on. I therefore feel as though I almost owe it to my future decrepit self to give him the memories that he can cling on to as he forgets what he had for breakfast (the likely answer is a cup of tea).

One of my friends always talks to me about the 'what the hell factor'. This is an odd theory he has that the most enjoyable things in life are the ones that we go 'what the hell!' to and the more enthusiastic the 'WTH' the more exciting and enjoyable the event (of course the best moments are the ones that make you go WTF). An example of the 'what the hell factor' would be when he and I went to the river one time and it was a damn cold day. We were contemplating swimming but also had in the back of our minds the steps of dealing with hypothermia and frost bite. But then we said 'what the hell' and consequently had a very fun afternoon despite the intense amount of shivering and goosebumps. I think that travelling is included in this 'what the hell factor'. When faced with the decision to either stay at home for the day or go and do something adventurous the 'what the hell factor' will help you in making this decision and chances are you'll have a pretty fun time. A word of caution, if you decide to use the 'what the hell factor' then do so with trepidation. I'd rather not have people jumping off cliffs due to my advice saying they just thought 'what the hell'. I'm pretty sure I may get into a teensy bit of trouble from that.

The main thing to think about really is that we travel because of one word: FUN! We travel because it is fun. I challenge you to find any other reason to travel besides the pursuit of happiness. I mean, I'm sure there a plenty of other reasons, but the MAIN one is definitely to have fun. Probably. Don't quote me on that though I might be wrong. I certainly think that the reason I want to go and see the world is because I want to enjoy myself. I want to have the ability to travel before I'm crippled with debt from University. I want to be able to walk for miles on end with a backpack whilst my bones will still carry me. I want to see the world's natural beauty before we destroy it with climate change (I'm a bit of a pessimist when it comes to that subject, sorry). To anyone who is reading this blog, I implore you to travel. Whether it's a two week holiday or a gap year or whether you even move to a different country, just go! I think that travelling is one of the best things we can do with our time and we should enjoy as much of our world as we can.

The 'what the hell factor' is the way I have chosen to live my life and I suggest you all do the same thing!