When I was a kid, my grandma and grandpa traveled around the world. They were part of a group that would go to a different country at least once a month. They'd stay at that country for at least a week, then they'd come home and sometimes bring back something from that place. She'd decorate both her lakeside cottage and downstate home with the random souvenirs she bought.
In her house downstate, their basement seemed like a mini-shrine of all the places they'd been. The moment you were down the stairs you saw pictures on the walls of each country. Grandma's favorites from each place. On the other end of the basement, there was a bulletin board with a large world map attached to it. Grandma pinned every single place she'd been with a red pin. Every continent had multiple pins inside. Some places were a more red than others.
Last time I was in Michigan, I went to her house and went straight to that world map. It hasn't changed that much since I'd been there last. My grandma was in a quad accident when I was in college, so she doesn't do a lot of international traveling anymore. A lot of the traveling is within the U.S. now. I still studied the map like I was seeing it for the first time.
When I travel, myself, I immediately think of that map. Of all the red pins on it, and how there would be even more from me whenever I decided to settle down. It's quite a challenge. But I think about my own world map like that. Every time I go somewhere, even if it's a trip within the country, I can add a pin to my own world map. Maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to have more pins on my own map. One day.
