Date a girl that travels.

"Date a Boy who Travels" is a post that has been going around on social media the past week. It is entertaining and honest however, being written by a girl that travels herself I couldn't help feeling that she wanted this man to open her eyes to the world and teach their children about rocks and life. But doesn't she already travel? Isn't she already doing these things for herself? So, she instead wants to sit home and hear about his travels? I am getting mixed messages here..

Another post popped up "DON'T Date a Girl that Travels" in response. Seriously? I understand the entry is meant to be a humorous response about how a girl that travels will be filled with so much life that she will be hard to please. I suppose listing reasons why a girl is hard to please as a companion piece to how a man's traveling will change your life is funny. Is it just me or is that overplayed yet? Girls, excuse me, woman that travel are not hard to please. We sleep in train stations, we throw everything on our back, and we survive off protein bars and beers. We get along with everyone because we have all packed into a 16 person co-ed dorm in the middle of the jungle. We love experiences - all of them - because when you travel the most miniscule detail ends up changing your life and if you don't know that, you haven't traveled. So sure she is going to want to strap on her backpack and climb mountains instead of sitting on your couch watching movies but she still appreciates the movie days. Because that's what traveling does, makes you appreciate the sum of all those little things. 

So here is my take on your choice to date a girl that travels. Agree or not, I just needed a less maddening version of this to be out in the world.

Date a girl who travels. Date a girl who treasures experiences over handbags, stamps in her passport over name brand clothing. Date the girl who scoffs when she hears the words “all-inclusive” because then you can be sure she is a girl that knows how to have fun. Date a girl who travels because she’s enlivened by many goals and no - that does not make her undecided, flaky, or dependent on you. Her mind is filled with dreams and plans for the future and if you are smart you will get in on them because she will accomplish more in her life than many will dream about. 
 

Date a girl that travels because she makes dreams into reality. When you peek at her computer screen, the background will be snapshots taken of oceans she has kayaked, mountains that have been skied, and any countless memories from places she has trekked and views she has thanked her God for. Date a girl that travels because she will be the hardest working girl you know. These views began as a dream that she accomplished - herself. She knows how many work days will measure a rail pass from Brussels to London, a glass of wine in Tuscany, the ferry ride between Mykonos and Athens, or a night clubbing in Ibiza. 

Date a girl who travels for her intelligence, she will navigate unknown cities and new languages with ease. She engages with worldly company to learn their cultures, history, and behaviors. Date a girl that travels because after many bumped flights, wrong turns, crowded bus rides, and bad street food she is easy going and adaptable. She is prepared for bumps in the road and enjoys the spontaneity of the journey they cause. She knows that the story is in the journey and it is often more memorable than the destination. She will be the first one laughing in these situations that will become amazing moments that will be your life together and put a smile on your face. Life will never stop throwing curve balls and she catches them and throws them right back.  

Date a girl that travels because she will win over your best friends and charm your boss. You can leave her in a room alone because she will be a girl that has never met a stranger. So don't fret when her Facebook wall is plastered with the broken English "miss you's" of friends she met along her travels. Because to be a girl that travels she will thrive on conversation, make lifelong friends in an hour, and believe strongly enough in these bonds to meet for drinks after years of sporadic 'What's App' conversations between time zones. Date a girl that travels because of her heart that cares for each of these relationships. 

Date the girl that has lived out of a backpack because she lives happily with less and values simplicity. She realizes the true needs for a happy life are found in relationships and family. She packs light and doesn't need much. She will treasure you and your experiences together over possessions. Give her those instead of expensive gifts. She has traveled and seen poverty, dined in small shanties with no running water, bathed in bus depots, and budgeted every cent - of her own money, to make it happen.

Date a girl who travels because she has had time to reflect on herself and her relationships. She won't waste time playing games because she looks at the world with curiosity and is more eager to plan holidays and be lost in bliss than fight with you.  Date the girl who talks of distant places and whose hands have explored relics of ancient civilizations because there is no limit to the happiness she envisions or the joy she will know. Date a girl that travels because she will make you feel like you can do anything and calm your nerves when you’re about to miss a flight or when your rental blows a flat, because she knows the journey is the adventure. She will live in every moment with you because this is how she lives her life - because being with a girl that travels means she will put her heart and soul into making it work.

Buy her a glass of wine and listen to her stories. Watch her lose herself in the memories because these are the moments that created her world; from the sunsets in Spain, to lost in translation Budapest, to sleeping on the beaches in Croatia when she had no other home. These moments to her, make up everything. She only wants you to listen so that you will want it too.

 

Buy her subscriptions to AFAR and Conde Nast so she can get lost in the pages. Sit with her when she becomes engrossed in her Tumblr dashboard in those inevitable moments when her wanderlust creeps up and you can almost hear her heart racing. Then she will plan your adventures and ask you to run away with her. Tell her yes and mean it. She will see you both riding dunes in Morocco, surfing in New Zealand, and hiking in Fjords in Norway. She will grill you about your dreams and competitively ask about the craziest things you’ve ever done. Tell her. She wants to know your heart can handle all that she needs to see and accomplish and experience in this world. Tell her because she will make it happen. She will fight to make your wildest dreams come true and there are no better hands for your dreams to be left in. She will plan those days for you both and you know your life will become filled with adventures and laughter, even on the days you are not bungee jumping from Bloukrans Bridge or throwing yourself down waterfalls in La Fortuna. Date a girl that travels because the quiet days will become as special as the action packed. 

Date a girl that travels because she appreciates home and the comfort of your arms. She has known the ache of goodbye and the joy of returning home to her favorite pillow, home cooked meal, and driving her beat up car after months away. She has had a chance to miss and be missed and although she is fiercely independent you want to date her because she appreciates your time together as much as she understands the need for you both to have time apart, to have separate passions, and to have a bucket list of your own. So follow your heart and let her follow hers because when they end up together, you know they are in the right place.

And most importantly, explore the world for yourself, and if it is meant to be that your bucket list converges with hers she will treat every step of your life together as a new adventure. She will laugh with you and cry with you as you both stumble through the uncertainty of it all but she is not afraid of new experiences - instead she will thrive in them.

And don't be discouraged when she forgets to check in with you because she will be a daydreamer, a dancer, a doer, and she won't need you. She can jump and catch herself. So don’t hold onto this girl. Let this girl go - but go with her because it will be the only way to really keep up her. Together you will make the whole world your home.