• About
  • Blog
  • Working together
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Girl Gone Travel

Girl Gone Travel

Travel
/
October 31, 2011

The Face of Travel

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share

I have a confession. Though I adore my community of travel writers and bloggers, and have developed some very endearing and close friendships with many of them, when it comes to listening to most travel writers talk, especially to others about travel, I cringe. I want to roll my eyes and walk away exasperated in frustration at the abundance of arrogance and obvious disconnect to the reality of the world most people live in.

I get that our job is to inspire, motivate, deliver the image and message of places we visit in a way that will excite others to go there. And there are a lot of us who can do that very well. But there are fewer who can do that in such a way that it inspires and motivates not just an exclusive elite few but also those who would never consider travel as something they could ever do.

I too constantly put myself in check and question my own style and ways in which I deliver my messages to others.

Because the truth is the face of travel is not one. The possibilities are not just for those who are young, freelancers (or with flexible work schedules or with no work at all), who live off the mileage garnered from their airline credit cards, who can speak of having logged in a gazillion miles in flight over just a few months, and who visit Paris or Timbuktu as many times as most of us travel to the store for milk.

That is a face of travel, however, and they have an audience and following which I respect and admire and applaud for the courage, sacrifices, and lifestyle they have chosen, often at such a young age, often tinted with no goals other than the next trip ahead.

But the one other face of travel are people more like me. We are middle-aged women (or men), who chose to get married and some of us even have children. Most of us also have a job, schedules, bills, roots, homes, beds we crave and sleep in more often then we sit in a plane. But we love to travel and we want to see the world and we want to take our kids and loved ones with us. We might never log more than a few miles on a plane or car this year. We might just take a vacation or two. We might save our money for years before we venture to Europe, and Timbuktu, well, might have to wait even longer.

But we are no less travelers and passionate about it then anyone else. Our road trips to Maryland or visits to Pennsylvania and the effects and experiences we gain from our trips are no less valuable and worthy of stories then anyone else’s.

It is still travel. And it is still beautiful. And it is still worth it. Not only worth doing, but worth encouraging, and worth highlighting and worth applauding for doing, especially when you had to take a few personal days from work, and save up for it, and drag the kids along, and search for the package deal. It is still travel and you should still do it and feel great about it.

I do want people to aspire to see places far away, lands unknown. I want people to read something that is so beautiful and so grand that it makes them crave being there more than anywhere else in their life. That’s what travel writers do, that’s what we dream of. But I also dream of making that family of five see the beauty of the trip they can take not that far from home, that seems attainable and affordable, that makes them feel like they have not only enriched their lives, but that of their children.

The face of travel can be your own and I hate when others speak to those who aspire this and instead of helping them believe it, they take that sense of possibility even farther away.

I know what I do is not something most can, at least not in the same way or with the same frequency. I realize that I have opportunities to do things most people wouldn’t – that I myself wouldn’t –  if it wasn’t my job. But I don’t forget that I am also a mom, married with three kids who has responsibilities here at home, bills, schedules, and roots to tend to. And it is as that person I hope to speak to you. Because I want you to travel, and I believe that regardless of what life throws at us, that we can and should because of what it does to us spiritually, emotionally and psychologically, but also because of what we can teach our children in the process.

So just remember it’s not about the luxury or the miles covered or the exotic location. It’s about the journey, the people you meet and the things you see along the way.

May you always feel inspired and have travel within your reach. May you be the face of travel.

[subscribe2]

Related

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share
Pin this Post
Share this Post
Carol Cain

Brooklyn native Carol is happiest when on an adventure, whether close to home or farther away. She is a small business owner and travel writer. In addition to creating Girl Gone Travel, she is the Founder and Principal of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. She's mom to three wonderful sons and wife to a handsome Irish/Scot. She lives, works, and plays in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY.

You May Also Like...

Christmas Tree Hunting in Long Island, NY

December 12, 2008

Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, NY

December 10, 2008

Winter afternoon in the Bronx Zoo, NY

December 16, 2008
4 Comments
  • Melisa
    October 31, 2011

    Beautifully written, Carol. And thanks for being "the face" for those of us with families. We'd love to go along for real, but your posts are pretty close to that.

    Okay, not really. But you know what I mean. 🙂

    Reply
    • Carol Cain
      Melisa
      October 31, 2011

      HAHAHA! I know what you mean Melisa. And thank you : )

      Reply
  • Lorianne
    November 4, 2011

    Nicely put Carol!

    Reply
    • Carol Cain
      Lorianne
      November 5, 2011

      Thanks Lorriane : )

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Post
Fall Foliage in New Jersey
Next Post
La Posada de Santa Fe, New Mexico

Categories

  • Asia5 Post(s)
  • Caribbean17 Post(s)
  • Central America4 Post(s)
  • Europe54 Post(s)
  • North America318 Post(s)
  • Oceana1 Post(s)

About me

Hi! I'm Carol! I am an award-winning travel blogger, a keynote speaker, and the Principal and owner of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. I a wife to a handsome Irish/Scot and a mom to 3 sons. Welcome to my blog where I share stories of my travels and professional public relations insights and advice. Thank you for reading and for your support!

Carol Cain

Contact

  • caincarol@gmail.com

Follow @girlgonetravel

A message about yesterday’s event: Happy Monday A message about yesterday’s event:

Happy Monday, y’all. Woke up in time to enjoy the soft glow of sunlight that shines its way around our house in the morning, and sipped on a cafecito without being rushed for anything. So already today is a win. 

Yesterday we worked our longest day yet for our little coffee cart that could (7 hours!!!) at the Heritage Fiesta in Ithaca, NY. 

Though we were ready for a crowd, the reception was also unexpected because there was a popular coffee shop just steps away. 

But we had Cómodo Fam stop by, family (who also fed us 🙏🏾), and soooo many members of the Latinx and BIPOC community who were just excited to see a small business like ours representing. 

I want to share that we were ALL worried about potential harassment and assault by 🧊and fliers were handed out to prepare us. And you would think that it would’ve intimidated the community enough to not come out…BUT WE DID. In numbers. 

And for hours that little parking lot next to Press Bay Alley was packed with all sorts of Latinx and non-Latinx community members, eating, laughing, dancing, singing, and drinking all the cafecitos and refreshers we had to offer. Literally. We went home cleaned out!

All this to say that we are all aware of the threats but we also understand the power and importance of coming together as a community and a people. By no means are we all the same, and Lord knows a lot of Latinos have a lot of self-reflecting to do based on the choices they made, but yesterday was a testament to the best of us, and I thank @yenospina and @lcatompkins for putting together such a wonderful event, for inviting @cafecomodony to be a part of it, and to all the friends, old and new, who came out to support us and la cultura. 

#fingerlakes #newyork #cafecomodo #coffeelover
Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite lazy day pastimes of the season: market shopping for fall goodies - which in the Finger Lakes is especially bountiful. 

📍Joseph’s Wayside Markey, Naples, NY

#fingerlakes #newyork #octobermood #fallday
Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The proce Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The process is busy and noisy but also exciting and fun to watch. 

This cloudy morning seems to have calmed things down a bit, but not for long I am sure. These families work hard!

Bonus: they set up roadside stands so we can purchase and taste them 🍇 I highly recommend picking some up if you see some in your drive. 

#fingerlakes #lifeinthecountry #newyork
The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️ The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️
I want to take moment to send out love to my fello I want to take moment to send out love to my fellow Latinx and immigrant community. 

To send strength to my community of glorious misfits who are out in the world making good trouble and emboldening us to not give up hope on our dreams, our livelihoods, our future, our country, our people. 

The country our parents worked so hard to get to so that we could fly. A country they helped build and bring to prosper. A country our communities help to feed and house and care for. 

I am my immigrant parents dream come true, and my children are a continuation of that dream. 

I just want to remind all of us who represent the targeted, of our worth. Of the value of our contributions. In our languages, our culture, our insights, our work ethic and skills and knowledge. Of the things we bring to the table.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or to us. But, as someone whose family lived through a dictatorship, I have an idea of how this story will end. And all I can advise is that we remain on the right side of it, our convictions unaltered, our core values untethered. Our spirits unbroken. In these stories, the monsters might scare us, and even harm some of us, but they never, ever win in the end. 

I am living proof of that. ❤️ And every time you succeed and feel joy, you are too. Pa’lante, mi gente.
Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes. Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes.

Copyright © 2025 Girl Gone Travel | Privacy Policy | Copyright Notice