I wanted to share with all of you, an excerpt from my little
brother Anthony. He's 22 years old. A recent Graduate of Binghamton University here in New York, and since the age of
5, has been a world class traveler.
Along with myself, he's also been to Bermuda, England, and Nova Scotia
to name a few. However, he has been to MANY other places, most of them, more
than once. So many times to Italy, that
the man who sells meat in the square, knows who he is when he passes through
(-__-).
I want you to take a look into how traveling has opened up
his eyes and doors for him. I am a proud
sister, extremely ecstatic that he has surpassed me in the aspect of living
life starting early. Tear
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| His friends home in Dominican Republic. He's just laying in the sun.
NO TURNING BACK
My name is Anthony Coursey. I am 22 years old and love to travel.
Traveling at times can be expensive, but I believe traveling at any point in time is money well spent. What you get from traveling is simply great life experiences and an abundance of different cultural views. Traveling to the extent I have has made me realize that it is something you must do while you’re young because once your older the opportunity to travel frequently dwindles away quickly.
I studied abroad in Spain two years ago and fell in love with it. This past September I moved back to Spain to be an English teacher and I think it’s probably the best decision I have made in my life. Not only have I returned to my favorite country, but I am here for 2 years and I have the opportunity to experience all that Europe has to offer.
My father’s side of the family has always made it clear to me that traveling is truly life changing and important. Before I studied abroad I had already visited London, Maidstone (South East England), Venice, Florence and Rome thanks to them. And that’s just Europe! I went to a Dance Camp in Nova Scotia, Canada with my cousin and I have gone on surfing trips to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
When I was in Spain as a student two years ago, I visited Munich, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Lagos (Portugal), Florence, Pisa, Barcelona, Valencia, Tel-Aviv, Athens, The Canary Islands, Marrakesh, Rabat, Casablanca and a small surfing town called Safi in Morocco.
Now that I am back in Spain I have already been back to Lisbon, Portugal and over the next six weeks I will continue my travels all over. I am visiting Geneva, Switzerland. I am going snowboarding in Saint Lary (South of France) for a few days, and I will be visiting Paris and Berlin. Within the next year I plan to make it to Budapest, Prague and Brussels.
I am a recent college graduate and owe lots of money in college loans, but I’m not sweating it. I have accepted the fact that I will be paying them off for 10 years, maybe more, and I’m going to life it up while I can. I know when I return home to the United States, corporate world America will be waiting for me. I’m not saving much money in Spain because I have to pay back loans, but the same situation would happen if I was back home in NYC working every day.
Moving around the world teaches you many things. It isn't for everyone. It takes a special type of person to be able to do what we do. Packing up all your things into two carry-on bags and two checked pieces of luggage is a struggle in and of itself and imagine all the things you don’t want to leave behind. Your mother will go through that luggage and make you narrow it down to seven cardigans instead of seventeen, or remind you that "those shorts still don’t fit and haven’t fit for 3 years, and you should probably just let them go". Along with letting those shorts go you are also letting go of friendships, relationships, and comfort.
Someone once told me that the reason we move to new countries is because we are either running from or running to something. I laughed and thought they were crazy. I just wanted a change; there was no rationale to my choice. The more I thought about it, the more I realized they were right. I wasn’t just running from something, I was sprinting as far as I could. I am running away from the simple life, where everyone works 9-5 at a desk or doing some other typical white collar job. If I have to life that life anyways, at one point or another, I might as well get the most of what the world has to offer while I’m young and have plenty of time to do so. What I didn’t realize was that this choice has now started the foundation of my future. Just like a tattoo, you get that first little taste and you want more and more.
When my job comes to an end in Spain two years from now I want to move somewhere else for a little. Preferably somewhere warm and near a beach. San Diego, California sounds like a cool place to me. My entire family is from New York and I know I will be there in the future no matter what. For me there is just no turning back!
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