It’s been quite a long time since I’ve done any hardcore blogging. I would say the last time I’ve done such a thing has been the twilight years of my college days. Like a lot of things, graduating college and entering the full time work force seems to have robbed me of plenty of my passions, writing being one of them. I recently discovered though that this SG Blog Homework has been extended to members. Considering how profound this community has impacted me in the short time I’ve been a member, it seems only fitting that if I were to start blogging a little more again, perhaps this is my best shot at this @bloghomework.

With all of this reflection on what was, seems rather fitting the topic I am picking up is the topic posted on January 23rd, 2015: If you could go back in time and change one thing from your past what would it be?

As my 20s slowly begin to wind down, with less than 2 years remaining on them, it seems I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot. Right away, a lot of things come to mind regarding this.

-Gone to a different college than the 1 I went to

-Been more outgoing/not as shy around the opposite gender

-Kept up the violin as a child

-Not pester my parents for things the way I did

-Kept up so more athletic endevours

-Tried to connect more with family members who are no longer around

Really, this sort of list could go on almost as life itself has. After all, life is nothing more than a learning process that we all partake in. Anyone can say they’ve spent time asking themselves this. I feel though a lot of the things we may say or do differently are things that are only short term, or would have strayed us away from the person we are now, after all, a large part of us are the sum of our decisions.

I have to say to directly answer this sort of question, the one thing I would have done differently to change who I was in the past is; I would have let myself been bitten by the travel bug earlier in my life.

The simplest way to explain why is a quote I found a while back to whom there seems to be no credit to: Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.

I was a pretty closed minded person during my teenage and early 20s years. I grew up a lot on the internet and the communities that exists there. Needless to say, I am sure anyone who has found SuicideGirls can attest to, the internet is full of very toxic communities with a lot of hate spewing and otherwise general mean spirtidness. Seems that when given a voice and a state of anonymous, everyone puts their worse foot forward and growing up largely interacting with the dregs within all of us, I felt it kept me pretty close minded. One thing that impacted me the most was the aversion toward traveling and the rest of the world outside the US. I basically was under the impression everyone was a bad person by default and the US was particularly hated throughout the rest of the world. Needless to say; I didn’t ever step outside the US until 2011, when I was already 25.

At that point I was quick to realize that a lot of notions I had about what things were like outside the US could be thrown out the window. That first time was such an eye opener and a soul enricher that since then, I’ve been hooked on it since. I feel the only way to truly learn is to get out there and explore. I’ve been to only Europe and Central America, but many times now I sit in my apartment alone during quite moments and all I can think about is; where will I go next?

I also wonder if I did this earlier in my life, aside from the places I would have visited already, what would I have been like now that I’m 28? Maybe a little calmer? More open to people? Possibly would I be less judgemental? So much can be realized when we sit back and think about what could be? Although, its important to reflect on this so we can all better shape what will come.

Regardless of how it took me to realize this, the best thing moving forward is simple, don’t look back. I don’t even find the fact that age 30 is looming near me, after all, it was the late Steve Jobs who once said: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Never be afraid to go out and explore.