Note: This is a guest post by STL Member Becca Rose. Enjoy and thanks Becca!
Since the day I started driving, I would imagine a marker on a map tracing all the places I went. Whether I was off to school, a friend’s house, or the mall, that marker would follow me everywhere.
My little trail of where I had been was becoming a huge scribble all over my great state of Massachusetts. Occasionally, due to family vacations down to Florida and trips back and forth from college, my marker would draw lines that zigzagged down the East Coast.
As I started to think about my map, I began to wonder; what was on the next page?
Years later, once I met my boyfriend (and now fiancé) my world and that map started to expand. The pages now started to unfold.
He was the adventurous type and I could barely keep him from the airport. Without a care about the destination, he would get on the next flight out of here.
His strong affinity for Europe brought me to Ireland where we spent a week driving along the beautiful southern countryside, stopping every night in a new town and a new bed and breakfast.
I started to think about this new line on my map, my marker following me all the way across the Atlantic.
A few years later we made a short visit to Paris, the city of love. In a short four days we walked over 30 miles, and were able to see Paris not simply as a tourist, but as a true Parisian. Yes, of course we saw the sights, but we also strolled around Montmartre, took time in the gardens of Rodin, and had a picnic in the Tuileries Garden.
Although we were only in Paris for a brief time, my little marker was quite busy.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get better, a year later, we made it to Rome with a group of friends. There we celebrated New Year’s Eve walking down winding little paths through the heart of the city, ending in Campo di Fiore where we danced the night away and watched a fireworks show right outside our window. Admittedly, this was a little bit scary at first, but, we figured “hey, when in Rome,” right?
After falling in love with the city, we would go back to Rome just a few short months later to start planning our Italian destination wedding.
How happy my busy little marker was to retrace its steps so soon. I can’t help but think that if this was a real marker I would’ve run out of ink long ago.
What started as a little scribble covering the small map of Massachusetts, now stretched across the Atlantic to the destinations of Dublin, Paris, Rome, London, Copenhagen, and more.
As I look back at the marks on my map now I realize how far I’ve come. But it didn’t happen by accident. No one unfolded the map for me.
I started out just like you. I went to a traditional 4-year college, got a regular job, and I commute to work every day. I pay my bills, student loans, rent and now my mortgage, the whole nine.
You see, no one helped me do this. I helped myself. I paved my own path. I created my own mark on this world.
It is possible. It is affordable. It’s just up to you.
Now, take the cap off your marker, and get to the airport and take flight. What’s stopping you?
About the Author: Rebecca currently lives south of Boston, working for a community bank in their residential lending department. When she is not helping others buy their dream homes, she can be found on kayak.com searching for flights, knitting, or raving about spin class to anyone that will listen.
