a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.

Origin: German (wander: to roam/to walk/to hike, lust: desire)

Related terms: Fernweh, German (fern: far away place, weh: longing)

Related nouns: global nomad, hodophile (lover of travel)

If any of this resonates with you, I’m happy you’re here to share this sentiment with me! And if you don’t know the feeling yet: I hope that being here will help you experience the world in an entirely new way – whether that is by living vicariously from the comfort of your own home, or being inspired to head out into the world feeling confident and motivated to see it with your own eyes!

If you’re mind-traveling, solo-traveling, traveling with friends, exploring with a partner, discovering the world with family, on an expedition with a group, or if you’ve gone so far as to make travel your profession: we’ve got something in common! And THAT, I must say, is one of my favorite things to find while traveling: all of the things I have in common with people from around the world, no matter how different our lives or experiences may seem. At our core, I’ve found – we are SO much more alike than we are different!

Finding commonality is a perspective I am proud of and an urge I find hard to deny. This may be the empath in me, which I’ve found can be both a superpower and an Achilles heel (a blessing and a curse). I might be the most positive person I know, which helps when the feelings I take on from others are overwhelming, sad, or frustrating in times where I feel powerless to help. And, while I’ve been told that my positivity seems “too good to be true,” I can guarantee you, it’s genuine and comes from the same deep depths of my DNA, just like my wanderlust.

Maybe that’s my innate pull to wander: a desire to connect, to see, to do, to learn from others, and on the other side to teach and to share and to connect, again. It’s a full circle that fulfills me to be part of.

The most simplified way I’ve found to explain the purpose behind my wanderlust is:

Life is an adventure:

and it’s better when shared!

One of the best quotes that describe this is from the wanderlust traveler, Ibn Battuta, who expressed the exact same feeling back in the 1300s that I experience today (which is mind-blowing on many levels):

Travelling:

It leaves you speechless, and then turns you into a storyteller.

I’ve found that if I travel, and tell no one, it’s as if I am greedily withholding the greatest treasures of the world. Likewise, this has spread to other aspects of my life: whether sharing things I have learned or witnessed firsthand, my desire to travel, learn, and experience may only be outdone by my equal or greater urge to share it with you. And so, I present this community of wanderlust souls for you to join so you can follow along and participate in the adventures right along with me!

Welcome to: You’ve Got Wanderlust

And all of the learnings, yearnings, experiences, people, places, and things I have collected to express, allowing us to connect deeper with one another, and the world. Do you have wanderlust? Drop your email to join our motley crew of wanderlust travelers and stick around; We’re just getting started!