Note: The following is Shaun’s first blog post on Over Yonderlust. He has mainly been working on the Previous Travels pages and I’m glad he was able to contribute to the blog part of our website. 🙂
One of the hardest life lessons I’ve learned over the years is the old saying ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.’ The first time I realized this painful truth was when my family moved from Arizona to Austin.
All 14 years of my life at that time had been spent living in the Phoenix metropolitan area. As an active Boy Scout, I spent at least one weekend a month camping/hiking with the troop in various places around the state. However, one of the places I have never been to is the namesake of the Grand Canyon State. My attitude had always been ‘that giant crevice isn’t going anywhere, I’ll see it later.’ But later never came.
After moving to Texas, one of the first questions I’d be asked was if I had ever been to the Grand Canyon. Shamefully, I’d shake my head. Learning from this experience, I’ve tried to make it a point to visit the major landmarks here in Texas to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.
When Erica and I decided that this was going to be our year to attend Burning Man for the first time, it was quickly agreed upon that we would add to our adventure by turning it into a road trip as well. Luckily for me, Erica had never made it to the Grand Canyon either and was equally as excited.
It was odd for us when we realized that we’d almost been to more foreign countries than states here at home. I think that all too often people get caught up in their distant (geographically) dreams and don’t realize the amazing sights around them. In my case, I’m just glad that after 12 years, I’ll finally be able to cross one of the seven natural wonders of the world off my list.
Sounds about right, I have a massive cathedral and castle in my city which people come from all over the place to see and I don’t think I’ve ever been inside the cathedral and only had a look around the castle becuase of work.
I might have to do something about this before we go!
I know exactly what you mean. Kauai is supposedly the most beautiful island of Hawaii, and altho I’ve lived a 30 minute plane ride away from it most of my life, I have yet to find out if its true. But now that I live thousands of miles away, I’m not sure when (if) I’ll get that chance. And glad you and Erica have the same direction, have fun experiencing life!
You know I have been to a lot of countries but have barely traveled Canada, in fact I’ve never been to the Rockies. The only reason I saw Niagara Falls is because people were visiting me. I think because Canada and the US are so big we often forget about the amazing sites in our own backyard
So true. I am glad I have travelled a lot around my own country before moving out. Even though there’s still a lot to see, Brazil is a huge country.
But it feels good when I can talk properly about it with people from other parts of the world.
It saddens me when I see other Brazilians who haven’t had the urge to travel while they were there and now that they are so far away they realize what they’ve missed.
Good thing is that we learn! And we won’t miss any other opportunity again. 🙂
@Poi: Yeah, that was one thing we noticed in Europe too. There are so many amazing castles and cathedrals, but many natives just consider it to be the norm while we are blown away. We often forget that most of the structures in the US are only a few hunderd years old and not nearly as impressive.
@JR: Hawaii is very high on places in the US we need to visit. We’ve spent many hours talking about what we could do to move there for a while. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Kauai while we’re there. 😀
@Ayngelina: This is too true. We’ve found ourselves in the same situation, which is partially why we like to show people around. 😉
@Cris: My Dad lived in Brazil for a couple years when he was in his early 20s so some of my earliest memories of discussing travel were his experiences there. I can’t wait till Erica and I start our trek through South America and get to see some of his favorite places as well.
I totally agree with this! I have been making a point to discover new places and try new things at home lately and it’s been really fun! It’s true, we often miss out on amazing things right under our noses in favor of far-flung destinations.
@Laura: Its definitely something we struggle with. While our mind is roaming internationally, we need to remind ourselves to stop and smell the roses. 🙂
Great post Shaun. The Grand Canyon is worth the trek. It really is pretty cool and I’m sure you guys will be glad you stopped 🙂
I totally agree with this! I have been making a point to discover new places and try new things at home lately and it’s been really fun! It’s true, we often miss out on amazing things right under our noses in favor of far-flung destinations.