One of the highlights of traveling for me is visiting friends that I do not get to see on a regular basis. Rarely do people stay in the same place for all of their lives and so it is inevitable that everyone will have a friend that lives somewhere that warrants a visit. Not only does it give you a reason to go explore and travel to that destination, but you probably have a place to stay for free (or at least a free tour guide). Who can turn down such perks?

The first few legs of my journey intentionally revolved around the people whom I was going to visit and spend time with. I have a number of friends who reside in Boulder, CO and they happen to be some of my oldest and closest. I cherish how natural and comforting it is to see them; like not a day has past since we last hung out. It’s possible that we regress back to a less mature version of ourselves when we’re together (more than possible actually) but that is only because our bond is so deep.

The next part of my trip was a reunion of sorts in California. I headed to San Diego to attend a wedding of a couple of my good friends from Boston and I was meeting a whole group of Bostonians there. It was a ton of fun for so many of us, whom would regularly hang out in Boston, to be in California together. Getting good friends together to explore a new place combines the excitement of travel with the support and fun you feel with the people closest to you.

In all of my travels I have learned that who you travel with is just as important to the experience as where you travel to.