Time for a
long overdue blog update! Considering how busy we’ve been at work, I haven’t
had much free time for an update lately. On the fun side, one thing I have been
using my free time for is planning future adventures! On that note…
When I was
planning my second trip to Africa last year, I knew that trip would be my main
adventure of 2017. I knew I just wouldn’t have the free time (or funds) to take
two big international trips this year, which made me a little hesitant to make
that trip so early in the year. Considering my intense wanderlust, staying in
one place for too long gives me very itchy feet! That being said, travel
doesn’t have to be international. A lot of people that know about my international
travels assume that I’ve also traveled all around my own country, which is
actually not the case. Yes, I’ve seen some of the US, but so far I’ve only been
to ten states. In order to meet the travel goal I set for myself a few years
ago (which I’m absolutely determined to do!), I need to more than double that
number in the next six years. So, back in early July, I was spending a day off
work watching one of my favorite travel vloggers on Youtube describe how to
find cheap flights- I might actually make a blog post on that myself later.
Watching the video really got me in the mood to start looking into and planning
my next trip. At the time, I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go, when I
wanted to go there, or for how long I wanted to be gone. Within two hours, my
flights to and from Memphis were booked and paid for- two hours!!! That’s a new
record for me, and I still can hardly believe that I did that. One thing that I
always say is one of my favorite things about traveling solo is it allows you
to embrace spontaneity, and that certainly rings true here! Basically, I began
by looking at a simple online map of the US and getting some ideas about where
I’d like to go. Of course, I want to go pretty much EVERYWHERE, but I just
looked at cities that jumped out at me and peaked my interest most. I narrowed
it down to about three or four cities that looked the best for me, then jumped
on some airline and flight comparison websites to see what flight prices looked
like and what cities had the best rates. When I saw the very cheap flights to
Memphis that were being offered, I quickly decided that they were too good to
pass up, and if I waited to book the price would almost certainly go up. So,
before I could convince myself not to, I booked those flights, a simple two
hours after deciding to plan a trip.
I can’t
narrow it down to one specific reason why I chose Memphis as this spontaneous
destination- it was a variety of reasons put together. Tennessee has been one
of the top states on my bucket list for years- I’ve heard that it’s beautiful
and has a lot to offer tourists. Memphis specifically has a lot to offer music
lovers like myself, including Graceland, Beale Street, and Sun Studio. For
people that love history, Memphis is home to the National Civil Rights Museum,
which I’ve heard is VERY well done. For animal and nature lovers, there’s the
Memphis Zoo, which is one of only four zoos in the US that has pandas! Not to
mention, Memphis is right on the Mississippi River. Finally, for foodies,
Memphis barbecue is supposed to be some of the best in the country. I’m sure
I’ll make blog posts about some, if not all of those places when I head to that
city- and my trip is fast approaching! I’ll be in Memphis September eleventh
through fifteenth, and I plan on seeing as much as I possibly can in that time!
Planning
this trip has reminded me that sometimes I put too much focus on international
destinations. The US is such a big country, and it has a lot to offer that I
still haven’t seen. Yes, the travel goal I set for myself did include other
countries and continents, but it didn’t leave out places right here in the US!
See you in twelve days, Memphis! This post’s food for thought: “A good traveler
has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”- Lao Tzu
