My backpack, my camera and my passport are my home.

I’m traveling the world with them without any clue where they’re leading me. My basic plan is to get lost and I thought I’d ask if you’d like to get lost together.

Travel the world with me.

I’ve been traveling alone and it doesn’t really bother me. People mistaken aloneness for loneliness. They think I’m lonely but the truth is, I’m just alone.

I’m not asking you to travel with me to fill up an empty space within my being.

I am not a half. I am complete and so are you.

I want you to travel with me so I can share my completeness with you on my journeys.

Each one of us has built his own ship and we’ve been the captains for far too long now.

How about we build one ship and sail the oceans together?

Let’s book a one way ticket to any country, hold our backpacks and delve into the unplanned. I don’t really care where we’re heading, as long as the destination is happiness.

It is true that we’re only two traveling the world, but beautifully enough the world, too, will be traveling with us. We’ll have interactions with the people who’ll cross our paths and exchange experiences. We’ll meet strangers and break the barriers of language and judgments.

We’ll sleep in hostels and cheap guesthouses and if we never find a bed to crash in, we’ll set up a tent and make it our 5-star hotel.

Let’s climb mountains, trek through deserts and hike the most exquisite forests on the planet.

We can kayak the astounding Southeast Alaska sea. We can climb the Himalayas, watch the Northern lights and hit the exquisite Australian outback.

Let’s become one with nature and everyone. We’ll star gaze, watch sunsets and sink in the magic of sunrises. Let’s swim naked in rivers and make love on rocks below the fierce sun.

We’ll sleep on the grass and read books while resting our heads on our backpacks. We’ll debate about the universe and our existence and we’ll agree to disagree.

I want us to be scared and get an adrenaline rush together. To hell with safety. Let’s ride the most dangerous roads on planet and meet the wildest tribes on earth.

With our faith, we’ll be hopeful enough to not plan. Our uncertain adventures will put us in the moment and make us step away from the notion of time. They will make us believe in the power of letting go and in trusting the universe.

We will be so immersed in our journeys that we’ll forget the date and time. Let’s forget our names and create new ones that will match our experiences.

Let’s be us. I want to be me and I want you to be you. I want to see the other side of your soul and traveling with you will allow me to discern it. I wish to see you angry, fearful of failing and then proving yourself wrong. I want us to discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

But, no fixing please. We won’t be traveling together to fix each other. We’re traveling together so we can accept each other, just the way we are.

We’ll be together but we will be alone at the same time. Sharing aloneness beats togetherness on so many levels. It is only when we learn how to be alone together, will we truly become one.

Travel with me and I promise to keep a smile on your face.

We’ll beat fatigue together.

We’ll get over fear together.

And we’ll wreck discourgement together.

Together, we can almost do anything.

Travel with me so we can eliminate the word can’t from our dictionary. Let’s hit the road and make some dreams come true.

My backpack is ready and so am I.

Now tell me, would you travel the world with me?

~

Author: Elyane Youssef

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Photo: Tareck Raffoul