Baby Steps

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My initial trips:

My first taste of travel came during my senior year at Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles. My film class was invited to attend the yearly Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. To this day, over ten years later, I have no idea what holy-spirit inspired my parents to let me travel with a group of six other high school seniors and two English teachers, throughout the Southwestern states.

My trip to Telluride was amazing. I can still recall the barren landscape of the Californian desert, the bright lights of Las Vegas, enormous Martian-red rocks in New Mexico, and the green pine beauty of Colorado. I returned home with the knowledge that whatever direction my life took, I would delve towards every curve and twist head first.

In 2003, as a senior (once again) at Cal State L.A., I won a spot on a group trip to the yearly Western Political Science Association's convention in Portland, Oregon. This was my first time travelling alone. Every step of that trip was absolute terror; from booking my first hotel and flight reservations, to my first time eating out alone in a strange city. I never felt more independent and satisfied. My days were spent among colleagues, men and women who spent their energies debating complex political issues. My nights were spent discovering a beautiful and lively city. I still dream of Portland and of its' amazing people. I know that I will return to it one day much more confident and better prepared to experience what it has to offer.

Last year, I made a compromise. I had spent months planning a trip to Japan, one that would take me from Tokyo, to Osaka, and finally, to Kyoto. I had requested the requisite time off from my job and had even found an old friend from college who had a very comfy sofa in Osaka waiting for me. I ended up going to Hawaii instead. My mother had had a bad premonition about my going to Japan and who am I to argue with a mom's premonition? Hawaii was beautiful and I do not regret going but every time I look at my bookshelf, I see a half dozen travel books on Japan and my English to Japanese phrasebook and can't help but wonder what I missed out on.

So, that is why I decided to go to Paris and Rome. It will be my first time in a country where I do not speak the native language, save for a few phrases here and there. It will also be my first time on a long flight....both cities are modern by all standards but here's to baby steps.

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