Since turning my blog back into Her Silent Musings, I’ve asked a few people to write guest posts that have something to do with how I want to structure my “new” site. Today, I’ve asked Melissa of Melissa Living Life to share her favorite travel destination with us.
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Hi there! My name is Melissa and today, Lauren asked me to talk to you a little bit about my travel adventures.
Growing up, traveling was never something that particularly interested me. It’s funny to look back on that time now; I can’t imagine myself today without a constant feeling of wanderlust.
Although I spent many years ignoring the importance of seeing different cultures, I’ve been learning just how amazing and life-changing it can be to get on a plane and venture into the unknown of a new city. Since 2008, I’ve traveled at least once a year. Each time I’ve left and come home, I’ve returned a different, more independent woman who’s fallen more in love with yet another part of the world.
In 2012, I visited five new countries spread out over 3 continents; North America, South America, and Europe. It’s been a life-changing year. There are so many moments throughout those travels (and the ones that came before) that stand out in my mind as favorites for one reason or another, and today I’d like to share one with you!
I think my favorite experience is the one that made me realize that traveling was something I wanted to spend my whole life doing. I had begun to take small trips after graduating high school, but the real point that it all became real for me was the day I booked my very first dream vacation- the one I’d been LITERALLY dreaming about since I was a young teenager- I was going to Greece, and I was spending three weeks there with 3 of my best friends in the world (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants much? Yep.)
More specifically, and maybe more powerfully than at any other point on that trip, I came to my realization the day we took a small boat to the volcano in Santorini that made the island so famous. It’s called Nea Kameni, and although the volcanic island hasn’t erupted in a very long time it’s considered highly active (it’s still smoking!)
We booked our excursion on our third day in Santorini; by then we’d gotten accustomed to the noisy city center of Fira, but I was still completely mesmerized by the sunsets every single night. The day of our trip to Nea Kameni we woke up bright & early, and walked through Fira to the famous 600 step staircase filled with donkeys that would take us to the boat.
The walk down 600 stairs was nothing short of terrifying. We nearly got trampled at least a dozen times by running donkeys, and our shoes were filled with donkey… Well, you know. We arrived at the port, embarked on a classic little sailboat with a dozen or so other people, and then we were off. We sailed through the Mediterranean towards the volcanic island, enjoying the cool breeze on such a hot day, and anticipating the hike we’d be doing soon enough.
When we arrived at the volcano, we had about half an hour to trek to the top of Nea Kameni before heading back down. The four of us huffed and puffed our way up, occasionally stopping to see the smoking holes that led to unknown depths. The volcano was meant to erupt years ago & never had; it’s a ticking time bomb. I was terrified, but fascinated. I was hiking a volcano. HIKING. A. VOLCANO. My mind would never properly wrap itself around this thought. I was in the heart of the caldera; Santorini was a distant island on high cliffs while I stood, exhausted and exhilarated, on the top of an active, hot, smoking, volcanic island.
Greece was my first trip to Europe, the reason I fell deeply in love with the continent, but more importantly the idea of traveling itself. Each time I get on a plane and end up in a new place, my life is changed in a way I didn’t even know possible. I haven’t been home a month from another backpacking trip in Europe and I’m already planning my next adventure. There is NO feeling like the one you get when you experience something so completely and incomprehensibly amazing. Volcano climbing was just my beginning.
I’m still writing re-caps about my Eurotrip from this summer, you can check them out and come say hi over on my blog, Press Play!
Do you love to travel? What are some of your must-see travel destinations?