I always like hearing what drives people to travel and what inspires them.  Cherrye from My Bella Vita is here to explain what are some of her travel inspirations.

Welcome Cherrye!!

Travel Inspirations: The Journey or the Destination?

I’ve written a bit over the last few months about my travel inspirations and the people, places and things that instigate my travels, particularly those people, places and things from my pint-sized rustic hometown of Kountze, Texas. But I can take that a step further and talk about, not a particular continent, country or even beach-front resort, but about the process of traveling and how that has changed my life.

I’m often surprised, and admittedly, saddened to hear of seasoned travelers who hate the process of traveling. They live for the new destination-the new culture-the new experiences and dread the check-in procedures, airport layovers and inevitable transfers that lead them there.

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But I’m different.

Of course, I live for a new destination … especially those first few steps onto previously uncharted terrain, the first time I hear a child laugh and his mother coddle him in an unknown tongue, that first bite of a local culinary specialty I’d previously just heard of through the Internet or TV. Oh yea … I love those moments.

But I also love the ones that lead me there.

I thrive on being in an airport, watching business travelers and families and wondering where their journeys will lead them. I don’t mind layovers-most of the time-and enjoy browsing through new shops or striking up conversations with strangers.  Especially after I’ve been in Italy for a long time – I love finding a good Starbucks, a Panda Express or even (yes, I know this is weird …) a Pizza Hut.

For me, the journey of transporting me to my destination is a welcome part of the travel package. It often signifies my return, either to my family after an extended stay in Italy or back to my husband, after a long summer stay in Texas. I mark the passage of each check-in, security line and airport layover and know I am one step closer to the ones I love.

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And that is what inspires me to travel. It’s the driving force that urges me to pack my bags and spend my savings and hop on another plane, bound for another international destination somewhere far away. Because in the end, I suppose, it really is the destination that matters … or at least, in my case, who is waiting there.

Cherrye Moore is an American freelance writer and Calabria travel consultant living in southern Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI Travel Insurance and about traveling in Calabria on her sites, My Bella Vita, and Il Cedro B&B, the website for her bed and breakfast in Catanzaro.