I’m Lydia Hart and I love to travel. The story of how that came to be is an adventure all by itself. When I was little – like 14 and under – I was a major homebody. I was most comfortable at home and I almost never wanted to leave it. I also did not enjoy meeting new people. I lived in a safe little cocoon and I preferred to stay there, only interacting with the people already close to me. Maybe most children start out this way and this is all just a part of growing up, but the shift in my personality in this regard is such a profound change it’s almost unbelievable.
A Dream Planted
What you should first know about me is that I’m a Wisconsinite, born and raised. Good ole Midwest girl. My entire family is also from the Midwest, with a few aunts and uncles who ventured out West. Growing up, I rarely left Southeastern Wisconsin, but when I did it was usually for one of our family reunions or cross-country road trips to visit our family out West. This is where my curiosity for other places was born – on the long road of I-90.
These road trips were not all fun and games. At the time, it was my parents and my 3 other siblings, all packed in our Honda Odyssey, with “Washington or Bust” signs taped to the back windows. Those were some LONG days sitting in the car, looking out the window at the passing scenery, watching movies, or even playing PlayStation when we got older. It took almost 3 full days of driving to get to our destination, but we got to stop and see some cool things on the way. Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug (for the record, I would not call this a cool destination, but we’ll get to that some other time), Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, etc. What I learned along the way is that in every single part of the journey there is beauty. It’s always different – from the farmland of Minnesota, to the flat plains of the Dakotas, to the start of the mountains of western Montana, to the forests of Washington – it was ALL beautiful in it’s own way. I mean, most people wouldn’t be itching to come to Wisconsin because of it’s picturesque landscape but it also has it’s own beauty, it’s just different from the glorious mountains of the western US. On these trips, I started to come out of my cocoon, realizing there was so much more to see in the world and you have to leave your comfort zone to see it.
Fast forward to high school. I was a little older, I was more comfortable meeting other people and experiencing new things. I went to a private boarding school (I know, it sounds real fancy but it wasn’t!) which meant that I was away from my parents, so I was forced out of my cocoon even more. I was four hours away from home, but still in Wisconsin, just the northern FRIGID part of it. I had this whole other area to explore in the four years I was there. I couldn’t go out much, since I was confined by not being able to drive for half of it. I have this vivid memory of a late-night bus ride back from the annual hay ride on a farm outside of campus. It was a perfectly clear and cold fall night and I was gazing out the window at the starry night sky. Since we were in the sticks, there weren’t any streetlights and the sky was filled to the brim with stars. I saw a shooting star so of course I had to make a wish. I wished that I would get to travel the world someday. The dream was planted.
So I dreamed of being someplace new and exciting with a sweet job in the cutest outfit and loving life.
I’ve always been a big dreamer. For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent lots of time daydreaming, fantasizing, thinking about what it would be like to be in this or that situation, coming up with all these made-up scenarios in my head (usually while I was listening to some Taylor Swift). As I got older, my dreams started turning into picturing what my future would look like. So I dreamed of being someplace new and exciting with a sweet job in the cutest outfit and loving life. In high school, I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do in life, but I knew that traveling had to be a part of it.
From Coast to Coast
My first experience traveling without my parents was in high school. I was lucky enough to have gotten into our school’s prestigious touring choir. It required singing alone in front of the choir director (who is a musical genius) for auditions. I almost didn’t even try because this thought was so terrifying to me. But I did it, and I passed, and that meant I got to practice and practice and practice every week before going on a tour across the country during spring break. My first tour was through Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin – so not too far from what I was used to. My second tour was to Colorado, Wyoming, and back toward Wisconsin. This tour was so fun and it’s really where my love for travel was really rooted. As fun as family road trips are (really, I love them!), traveling without your parents and with a bunch of your friends is a whole different ballgame. We had so much fun, seeing new sights, meeting new people, staying in other people’s homes, and really just going somewhere you haven’t been before. The excitement was so palpable and it really brought out a different side of me. The world suddenly seemed so large and so full of opportunities.
Fast forward to high school graduation. I still had no idea what I wanted to do in life. So, I decided to take a semester off of school and live with my older sister who just had a baby and whose husband was going to be gone for a bit since he was in the military. Perfect excuse for me to go somewhere new AND for a longer period of time. So, I hopped on the second flight I had ever taken in my life but this time BY MYSELF and I set off for Charleston, SC. I remember being so scared and so nervous and not knowing what to do with myself. But it turned out that everyone was really nice and I could read signs and I didn’t get on the wrong plane, and I made it Charleston with no issues, but definitely some sweaty pits.
Charleston was HOT. We have humidity in Wisconsin, but not the kind where you honestly feel like you could melt into the sidewalk. We didn’t do a whole lot until the weather cooled down a bit. At the time, Charleston seemed about as different from Milwaukee as it could be. Super hot, no trees changing color, people had a different accent, some streets were cobblestone. I wanted to explore and see what this place was all about. Honestly, I didn’t get to do a whole lot because I was really there to help my sister with her baby, but we explored a bit and the more we did, the more I wanted to see.
Partway into my time in Charleston, we got a call from our Aunt who lived in Seattle. She was hoping we could go to Seattle to nanny our younger cousin for two weeks while they vacationed in Germany. It took a little persuading to get my sister to agree since she had a little baby to take along too, but we agreed! Off to Seattle we went.
A whole new area to explore – and one that’s so different from Charleston! My sweet aunt made sure to take us to see the sights and get us familiar with the area before they left. I think what I learned most from this travel experience is that traveling isn’t always what you expect and you can’t do everything you want to, but there is so much to see everywhere you go.
“traveling isn’t always what you expect”
This brings us to the start of college. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do for sure, but all that time spent with little kids made me think I wanted to either be a teacher or work in some sort early childhood development position. Silly me, that is so not what I’m good at. BUT, that summer I took the trip that changed my life.
Mission Trips and International Travel
My church synod offers “mission helper trips” every summer in either Africa, Nepal, or India. Without knowing who would be going, I applied to go on the trip to Africa that summer. Once accepted, I found out I would be going to Zambia with 4 other people for 3 whole weeks. None of my other travels compared to the trek that is international travel. I met my team at Chicago O’Hare and I got on my first long-haul flight.
This was the trip were I started writing while traveling. I only wrote a few posts for the trip’s blog along with my personal journal, but people commented on my writing and told me I have a gift.
Coming back from that trip was a whirlwind. I remember finally getting home, and getting into my bed and just crying. Part of that was sheer exhaustion, but I think the other part of it was the realization that everything had changed. I had been awakened by my experience and I now knew that I wanted to have international travel be in my life in a bigger way from now on. I also always wanted to be talking about my trip – sharing my experience with whoever wanted to hear. I realized that a lot of people had preconceived notions about what they thought Africa was like, and I was so happy that I could tell them what it was like from my personal experience. A lot of times, their thoughts and fears were not what I experienced at all. This made me want to learn more and more about the world and be more involved in the international realm. I finally picked a major – International Studies with an emphasis in Politics and World Affairs. And my dreams just got a whole lot bigger.
I learned so so much in my college experience. How history has shaped politics, societies, international relationships, and people’s perceptions of other places. It made me feel so small but wanting to do something to make people more aware of how connected the whole world really is, as well as how all humans are really the same. Everyone has the same basic needs and wants in life. I kept thinking about how if people could just go out into the world and see how other people live and hear about their history, they would be more understanding and caring and there would be a higher chance of peace among nations. I know, this all sounds very naïve, but I really stand by that! The problem is that most people don’t venture out into the world too far, they just stick where they’re comfortable, only talking to people who are like them. And that’s what I want to change.
“most people don’t venture out into the world too far, they just stick where they’re comfortable, only talking to people who are like them. And that’s what I want to change.”
My second mission trip was in the summer of 2017 – this time to Nepal. Nepal was a whole different experience and I loved every second of it. The things I saw, the way that I had to get places to see it was all new and different and it challenged me in new ways. It only served to grow my love of travel and my struggle for jet-lag.
The year after I graduated college was a year of dreams. It was 2018 and I felt like I was on top of the world. I graduated in December of 2017, so I started the new year with a whole new chapter of life. The plan was for me to leave in September of 2018 to serve in the Peace Corps. I thought that would be a good place to start my international career. I would spend the time in between with family, working to save up some money, and preparing for departure. Oh and also taking 4 different major trips.
The first trip of 2018 was a girl trip to Arizona where one of my friends from my Zambia trip lived. We backpacked the Grand Canyon and it was fantastic. This was the first trip like this that I took – mostly outdoor, hiking, camping – and I loved it.
The second trip of 2018 was to Hawaii to visit my sister (the same sister I had stayed with in Charleston) who now was living at the base on Oahu and who now had 3 kids and whose husband was again deployed.
The third trip of 2018 was a backpacking trip around Europe with my little sister. I had planned and dreamed for this trip for 4 years and it was everything to me. This really put my itinerary planning to the test – but it was a success!
The fourth trip of 2018 was another mission trip to Africa, but this time to Tanzania.
All of these experiences just fueled my desire to see more, learn more, experience more.
Plot Twist
Long story short, my grandpa passed away while we were in Tanzania. Upon arrival home, we had the funeral. This was a really hard time for me. I was at a crossroads. The loss of a loved one makes you stop and think about how much people mean to you, and at that particular time, I didn’t think leaving them for two years was what I should do. There was also a different opportunity that I wanted to pursue.
Ever since I was a junior in high school, I had been working summers at a flower farm that a family friend owned. I loved working there. It was very hard physical labor in whatever the elements happened to be that day, but it was so fulfilling. It was also a great creative outlet AND where I realized how much I love being outdoors. There was an opportunity to have a bigger role at the farm but again, this was only a seasonal thing. I would need a job the rest of the year. So I thought I should get more experience in this field that I was interested in pursuing. I landed a job at a high-end local grocery store with a very popular and classy floral department. I started as a designer, but they quickly promoted me to a department manager at an up-and-coming location. I figured I could use more managerial experience so I accepted. That was three years ago.
My 20s sure seem like a rollercoaster. What will I do? What are my passions? What really means the most to me? I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and that’s definitely true in this case as well.
At my job that was supposed to be temporary, I met the man who would become my husband. That was 2019. Then came 2020. We rang in the New Year in my next international travel destination: Banff, Canada. Armando and I, who had been dating for about 4 months at the time made a very spontaneous decision to go to Banff after a very stressful holiday season. We went over New Years which happened to be my birthday. While there, I remember reading an article about a weird new virus that was going around, but I didn’t really think too much of it. Flash forward to March of 2020 and I was suddenly really glad I wasn’t overseas and I was glad I was working at a grocery store which stayed open during lockdown.
Typically, when you’re unable to do something that you normally could do, you realize how much it means to you. That was definitely true for travel. I kept finding myself thinking back on all the things I had done. As a sort of stress-reliever, I made trip itineraries. I researched, I read blogs, I looked at pictures, I made really detailed itineraries, I dreamed of going to all of these places. I needed to have something to look forward to, no matter how far in the future (this might have been the enneagram 7 in me). As I’m looking at all these amazing blogs I found myself thinking, man, I wish this was me. I know I’m a decent writer, I know I love to explore, I know I love to share my travel experiences with others. Maybe I should start my own blog. I thought this in the back of my mind for probably two years before I did anything about it. I always came back to it.
“be captivated by the remarkable places you see.”
So that’s the story of how I grew a heart for travel. A heart filled with curiosity and eagerness to learn more about the world, to appreciate the people in it, and to be captivated by the remarkable places you see. My hope is that the experiences I share here spark and fuel a desire for my readers to also see more, get out of their comfort zones, learn more, experience more in the hopes that more people develop a heart for travel.
🤍 Lydia
