The Meaning of Travel

Greece vacationThere is an old Chinese idiom, “Resting is for the sake of the longer journey ahead.” Travel, in a way, is close to resting. My recent Greece trip involved lots of resting, not in a sense of sleeping, but in a sense of doing things I’ve longed for but haven’t had a chance to do because of my busy schedule. In the Cyclades islands, every morning brings beaches to explore, new roads to travel, and taverns with mouth-watering seafood to devour.

I absolutely adored Greece—the gigantic Parthenon of the Acropolis in Athens enchanted with the glory of ancient Greek history and mythology; the Mediterranean, so pure and clean, glittering with sunlight; the silhouette of villages and markets built along the edge of the Santorini caldera, stretched across the cliff-side and far into the endless skyline. Every morning and afternoon we found a place to watch the sun slowly dance above and gracefully descend beneath the horizon. Time in the Greek islands is like a dream, and we were in heaven.

Even now, when I close my eyes, I can still see the marble blue sea waves ebbing along the coastline of the Santa Maria beach in Paros.

However, as much as I wish I’d had few more days in Greece, the reality hits, that the meaning of a perfect vacation is the end. Because every dream vacation has an end, we therefore get to appreciate those exotic experiences and foreign places even more when we were there. I love to travel, but I doubt that I will never have the guts to go on a long sabbatical or pull up something adventurously risky like the couples that quit their jobs to travel.

To end my travel with a reality check felt bittersweet, but I did come back with something gained: finely-tanned skin and a fiancé.

Until next time, Greece and wonderful vacations.

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