A Vacation in My Own Neighborhood

My mother was born and raised in Japan; my father, in India. They left their respective countries seeking adventure and a chance for better opportunities in a country they’d only read about and seen on TV. This multicultural joining of two very different people created three daughters with a passion for exploring the world nested deep in their blood.

I realized at a very young age that I was a traveler. I took my first airplane flight to Japan and India when I was an infant, and have been exploring ever since. My parents always had the dream of traveling, which provided me and my sisters a priceless opportunity to become citizens of the world. Sometimes more aware of other cultures than our own, the traveling became an essential part of our lives that gave us a diverse perspective of the world at large.

However, a seven-month stint living in Japan was a delicate attempt at finding my roots in a culture that was still very foreign to me. I’ve been back and forth to India numerous times, and still yearn for a firm grasp on understanding my father’s homeland.

Once I felt the reviving feeling of discovering a new place, and learned about traditions and customs distinct from my own, I knew I’d never be able to go back to seeing the world with the same eyes. I got the travel bug.

Yet as I get older, I realize I have to start my life from one place; the idea of traveling around the world on a whim is not something that’s entirely possible or practical. There have been many weekends that I have wanted to jet-set someplace exciting, but found it too expensive and not realistic. Instead, I’ve found ways to create a vacation in my own city by finding hidden gems right at home.

Exploring nature does not have to mean heading off to a remote location somewhere in the mountains. I have found that exploring parks in my own urban area can feel much like going on an adventurous hiking trip.