Not Just Another Pretty Place
You know the feeling. A gentle pull in the pit of your stomach that whispers to you…travel…travel…travel. A kind of wistful longing that starts in small, like an itch, but keeps growing until you are able to scratch it. A daydream state that leaves you browsing old vacation photos and using leftover foreign bills as bookmarks. What is this nagging feeling, not unpleasant, but not easy to brush off? It’s wanderlust. And it may just be incurable.
It can come from the most innocuous places, a postcard taped to the register of your local café or a commercial boasting stunning views and incredible experiences. It can find you on social media or in subway stations, or it can come from seemingly nowhere. If you are a Wanderluster, though, you know the sensation well. And unlike most people, you scratch your travel itch whenever you get the opportunity.
But travel and wander are not necessarily the same thing. To be a true Wanderluster, you must approach travel from a very specific angle. Travel implies a measure of planning, purpose, and structure, but wandering is an act of moving about, constantly curious, but inherently aimless. “It’s the journey, not the destination,” is your mantra as a Wanderluster. You want to see the whole world, but in a unique and authentic way.
Wanderluster, it’s new experiences you crave, and you never have to think twice before accepting an invitation to get up and go. In fact, you keep a small carry-on packed in your front hall closet, just in case a last-minute opportunity arises to hop out of town. Destination wedding? You bet! Work conference in a new city? Yes, please! Ridiculously cheap ticket to someplace you’ve never been? Totally!
While you friends spend their weekends streaming TV, grocery shopping, and sleeping in, you’re more likely to plan a weekend getaway to the nearest undiscovered town in driving distance. For you, the more travel the better—you’re a collector of passport stamps, a seasoned passenger, a lover of language, and a destination daydreamer.
The beauty of being a Wanderluster is that there are no wrong answers—you find joy in every place you roam. There is no trip too short or flight too long to make traveling worthwhile. Perhaps the days of paper maps and compasses have passed, but we encourage you to spin the proverbial globe anyway, pack your carryon, and wander your way.
