The Benefits of Travelling

I’ll admit, in my 14 years of experience, the benefits of travel – especially with family – haven’t always immediately been apparent. In Paris, my sister, Emily, insisted we visit every art gallery, dragging me down corridor after corridor until the artwork blurred into one giant brush stroke. I distinctly remember storming angrily into Costa Rican waters when Emily refused to budge from her towel and go for a swim. One unbearably muggy night in Venice, the entire family found ourselves struggling to sleep in the one room with a fan. I’m sure that, at those points in time, all anybody wanted was to be home, in their own rooms, and most of all, alone.

The funny thing is, looking back on those times, my sister and I can’t help but smile. When they come up at the dinner table, they are received with laughter. They’ve become the anecdotes that carry family conversations, the experiences we remember together. As sisters, travel is how Emily and I bond. Whether it’s remembering last summer or planning the next one, we share the same voracious appetite for touring the world. The opportunity to spend a minimum of three weeks away from home per year (although it’ll be nine weeks in total this year) has opened our eyes to culture and history and adventure, but more importantly, has created chances for us to spend time together.

This past fall, Emily and I travelled to Ottawa, just the two of us, for a youth forum. There, our peers were amazed to discover we were sisters, exclaiming, “But you get along so well!” There is no doubt in my mind that that compatibility comes from our experiences travelling together.

And the relationship works both ways. Travel has improved our bond as sisters, and our bond as sisters has improved our experiences travelling. In Paris, we ended up side by side, awestruck by the Mona Lisa. Our disagreement in Costa Rica resulted in renting surfboards and hitting the ocean together. That sweltering night in Venice, we found ourselves doubled over laughing while dancing to Mika.

Together, we have had 14 amazing years of memories, and we have only to look at a map to begin planning a lifetime more.