Adapted from: http://blitzkreigkate.tumblr.com/post/3246440448/date-a-girl-who-reads-date-a-girl-who-spends-her
Date a girl who travels. Date a girl who spends her money on
plane tickets, bus tickets, and that new pair of hiking boots. She has no
problems with closet space, because she knows that everything she needs can be
carried on her back. Date a girl who has a list of cities she wants to visit,
who growing up, only requested postcards from other people for her scrapbook.
Find a girl who travels. You'll know that she does because she will always be daydreaming -- imagining herself on a whirlwind adventure. She's the one looking over her shoulder, unafraid of whatever height she's climbed to. You see the weird chick asking for directions, constantly talking to strangers, and trying to hitchhike, trespass, and/or talk her way to wherever she wants to be? That's the traveler. They're easily identified by a fierce independence streak and a strange ability to befriend every stranger that crosses their path.
She's the girl tapping her foot to the sound of a street musician, sniffing at the spices at the market, and slipping her shoes off at the temple. If you take a peek inside her bag, you won't find make up -- but tissues, a camera, and a map. She's wandering, but never lost. Walk by her. She might give you a glare, because you're blocking her camera shot. Ask her if she likes the view.
Offer to take a picture for her.
Let her know what you really think of people who only want to travel to Europe. See if she's ever traveled alone. Understand that if she says she wants to travel to Africa, she has already secretly acknowledged how dangerous that would be alone. Ask her if she'd like a travel companion.
It's easy to date a girl who travels. Expensive shoes, jewelry, and fancy hotels won't impress her. They're nice, but save your money for an experience you two can enjoy together -- because a traveler understands how hard it is to find good company for that perfect sunset. Give her a bustling city, a tiny village in the middle of the desert, winding roads, open oceans, narrow cave passages, or a view across the canopy of the rainforest; she can be happy anywhere. Let her know that you won't ever hold it against her when she prioritizes her dreams and travel plans before you. Understand that she knows the difference between traveling and vacationing, but see if everyday doesn't feel like a vacation with her. It will never be your fault if you want to pick up and go -- because she already packed.
She has to rope you into her adventures somehow.
Lie to her. If she's learned anything during her travels, it's that "see you later" sometimes means good-bye, forever. For every goodbye: memories, tears, laughter, nostalgia, kindred spirits, and fleeting moments. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who travels knows that failure is part of living. Because girls who travel understand that a person who risks nothing, risks missing out on life. That you are allowed to make mistakes. That a wrong turn sometimes leads to unexpected opportunities, serendipitous encounters, or a breathtaking view only found off the beaten path. That you can make a mistake, and still make up for it by retracing your steps, U-turning, or asking for help with a map. That life is meant to have a few bumps in the road.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who travel understand that people, like the road before you, twist and turn in every direction. Even carefully laid out plans can go awry.
If you find a girl who travels, keep her close. When you find her trying to run away, don't tell her she's crazy. You may lose her for a few months, maybe for a year or two, but she will find her way back to you. She'll talk wistfully about living abroad forever, because for a while, forever doesn't seem that long...away from family and friends. But know that although her mind may be yearning for somewhere else, everyone needs a place to anchor.
You will propose at the mouth of a volcano. Or during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Or very casually next time she's recovering from jet lag. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you'll wonder why your heart hasn't completely collapsed from always running after her. You will ride off on a magic carpet, have your kids in foreign countries and teach them multiple foreign languages you wished you had found time to learn. She will introduce your children to French cuisine and Japanese culture, maybe in the same day. You will wander the winters of your old age together and she will quietly tell you she loves you, in every language she knows.
Date a girl who travels because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who will make life one long adventure. If you can only give her monotony, stale hours and half baked proposals, then you're better off alone. If you want the world and the parts of the world not yet explored, date a girl who travels.
Or better yet, date a girl who wants to save the world.
Find a girl who travels. You'll know that she does because she will always be daydreaming -- imagining herself on a whirlwind adventure. She's the one looking over her shoulder, unafraid of whatever height she's climbed to. You see the weird chick asking for directions, constantly talking to strangers, and trying to hitchhike, trespass, and/or talk her way to wherever she wants to be? That's the traveler. They're easily identified by a fierce independence streak and a strange ability to befriend every stranger that crosses their path.
She's the girl tapping her foot to the sound of a street musician, sniffing at the spices at the market, and slipping her shoes off at the temple. If you take a peek inside her bag, you won't find make up -- but tissues, a camera, and a map. She's wandering, but never lost. Walk by her. She might give you a glare, because you're blocking her camera shot. Ask her if she likes the view.
Offer to take a picture for her.
Let her know what you really think of people who only want to travel to Europe. See if she's ever traveled alone. Understand that if she says she wants to travel to Africa, she has already secretly acknowledged how dangerous that would be alone. Ask her if she'd like a travel companion.
It's easy to date a girl who travels. Expensive shoes, jewelry, and fancy hotels won't impress her. They're nice, but save your money for an experience you two can enjoy together -- because a traveler understands how hard it is to find good company for that perfect sunset. Give her a bustling city, a tiny village in the middle of the desert, winding roads, open oceans, narrow cave passages, or a view across the canopy of the rainforest; she can be happy anywhere. Let her know that you won't ever hold it against her when she prioritizes her dreams and travel plans before you. Understand that she knows the difference between traveling and vacationing, but see if everyday doesn't feel like a vacation with her. It will never be your fault if you want to pick up and go -- because she already packed.
She has to rope you into her adventures somehow.
Lie to her. If she's learned anything during her travels, it's that "see you later" sometimes means good-bye, forever. For every goodbye: memories, tears, laughter, nostalgia, kindred spirits, and fleeting moments. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who travels knows that failure is part of living. Because girls who travel understand that a person who risks nothing, risks missing out on life. That you are allowed to make mistakes. That a wrong turn sometimes leads to unexpected opportunities, serendipitous encounters, or a breathtaking view only found off the beaten path. That you can make a mistake, and still make up for it by retracing your steps, U-turning, or asking for help with a map. That life is meant to have a few bumps in the road.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who travel understand that people, like the road before you, twist and turn in every direction. Even carefully laid out plans can go awry.
If you find a girl who travels, keep her close. When you find her trying to run away, don't tell her she's crazy. You may lose her for a few months, maybe for a year or two, but she will find her way back to you. She'll talk wistfully about living abroad forever, because for a while, forever doesn't seem that long...away from family and friends. But know that although her mind may be yearning for somewhere else, everyone needs a place to anchor.
You will propose at the mouth of a volcano. Or during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Or very casually next time she's recovering from jet lag. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you'll wonder why your heart hasn't completely collapsed from always running after her. You will ride off on a magic carpet, have your kids in foreign countries and teach them multiple foreign languages you wished you had found time to learn. She will introduce your children to French cuisine and Japanese culture, maybe in the same day. You will wander the winters of your old age together and she will quietly tell you she loves you, in every language she knows.
Date a girl who travels because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who will make life one long adventure. If you can only give her monotony, stale hours and half baked proposals, then you're better off alone. If you want the world and the parts of the world not yet explored, date a girl who travels.
Or better yet, date a girl who wants to save the world.
