Throughout my final years in high school and throughout the last chunk of my life, I have been waiting to find significance in my everyday life. From thinking about making videos about my journey to discovery, to starting a business, I have found myself lost on what truly motivates me. I wanted to be able to intertwine my passions with work which although works created a roadblock for me to do what I truly enjoyed. Since I was a child, my favorite movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara implemented one of my biggest passions in me, travel. The movie follows a group of three guys traveling to Spain for a bachelor trip road trip. In the movie each has unique perspectives but problems as well and their exploration in Spain helps to provide clarity to their life in individual ways. They each choose an activity of their own that each of the others have to do, the first of which is scuba-diving, the second is skydiving and the third being running of the bulls. Each is meant to expand their ability to be uncomfortable as Arjun is scared of the water and Imran is frightened by heights. In the same way, their physical and tangible boundaries exist alongside their personal capacities. Each of the three are on a path to discovery with Arjun, a workaholic that works throughout significant important parts on the trip who eventually realizes how valuable the present truly is.

Similarly each character begins to uncover their personal roadblocks throughout this trip. The meaning I took from this story I hope to utilize throughout my life for the better. Regardless, this is their story whether fictional or not, I still plan to explore this journey in Spain as well but through a different light instead. I want to solo backpack Spain for 2 weeks this summer, a daunting task but a life changing experience nonetheless. Going to six different towns I want to explore the full extent of what spain has to offer in their mountains lakes and rivers. Among others I also want to explore there towns and the breadth of cultural history they encompass throughout each part. I plan to use the lessons I have learned and the people I have met as an opportunity to make myself a better person and expand my capacity for thought. Maybe after this trip Ill be more comfortable doing the things I love to do as a person or put myself more out their socially. The possibilities that can arise from this trip are endless.  A great goal to have but as I progressed in high school and now college, I have found myself waiting for the perfect time.

This last summer I didn’t go because I was 17 and now this summer I am at odds between doing an internship and going on this trip. These two stark ends of the spectrum is where my confusion arises but creates clarity as well. I am getting to a point in my life where traveling seems overwhelming, either I should be looking for an internship or taking more courses this summer. At the same time, it feels like the last potential time to travel or do something this big for me in a long period of time. It almost seems like a need versus a want, to other people it may seem like a want to do a trip like this when i should have other priorities in mind, alternatively to me this is a trip that I need to do where what I hope to get out of this trip will far outweigh the growth I would have in an internship.

At this point it becomes a battle between whether I want to expand my resume and maybe add one extra line and learn how to do some financial sheets even better or instead, sacrifice this one line on my resume for one summer and become who I want to be. When I put it like that, the obvious decision is to go on the trip but the pressures also exist in my family to do something like an internship. As a young adult, I have never gone on a solo-trip this great before and doing one for two weeks will test my abilities mentally and physically as I’ll have to plan, map and communicate to individuals speaking in different languages. Regardless, it’s a challenge I would like to explore and use it to maximize my problem solving skills that I can apply in my everyday life no matter how big or small. This realization allowed me to re-center my priorities and understand that my priorities are what I make of them and all of them are of equal significance. This summer I will be going to Spain for a two week backpacking trip and documenting my travels to post them online!