Up to last year, my wanderlust was confined to the 25-day holiday benefit I got through my office job. But the urgent desire to see the world was stronger than anything else. So I left my British courtyard behind and entered the travel culture.

Want to know where I am right now? In Sydney, where i’ve been residing for the past few day. Next destination? Hobbit Land (aka New Zealand). But why? Why do I travel?

“To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

What do I love about traveling?

For the first time in this year of wild adventures I am actually trying to find some answers to the above question, firstly because my editor (hey Mandy!) asked me to do so (thank you, Sabrina :P), secondly because it might help me reply to the thousands of questions I have in my mind and to the people who keep asking this question over and over.
Truth to be told, I have no plans or plane tickets to go home yet and the more I see, the more I want to see.

Yeah, it’s like a drug, but the good kind (and totally legal). After much reflection, here is a first list…but I feel that in a few months, the reasons might change.

I love to challenge myself and push my limits

When you live in the comfort of a house (whether it’s a mansion, a room, a pad or a studio), you become lazy and comfortable. You know where your things are, you can go to the toilet anytime, you can shower EVERY day (full time travelers are aware how difficult some of these things might be when you’re on the road…). In short: life in a place you call home is (too) easy!

Traveling changed that. One day I’ll be sleeping in the open Indian desert under a million stars and the day after you can find me climbing the Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. Then I might bediving in the Great Barrier Reef or even jumping off of a plane at 50000 feet in Lake Taupo (well, I haven’t actually done the last one yet, but I’ve booked it…wish me luck!).

{ o n t o p o f t h e w or l d. a g a i n } This is me in #selfiemode at Marion's Lookout on top of #CradleMountain in @tasmania. . Another fantastic walk yesterday, just after a freezing sunrise shooting session. And the sky was finally blue! ? Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last pic, quite stunning uh?. . Keep following my adventures on my #360Tasmania album on my FB page [facebook.com/sabrinaandreasachs] as I've little to no network for snappy! ?. . #olympusinspired @olympus_au • @jobyinc • @loweprobags

A post shared by s a b r i n a ANDREA s a c h s (@the_storyteller) on Mar 20, 2016 at 2:09am PDT

I love having time for myself

So many people booked their holidays to India, Bali and Rome following the footsteps of the Elizabeth Gilbert and her Eat, Love and Pray journey and so many people think that the place they are going to visit is the one which will change them. I was one of them.

And even ifI didn’t really find myself (or the man I want to marry), this past year has surely helped me to clear memory space on my brain disk. I managed to organise my total personal mess into various folders that allow me to prioritise happiness and joy vs dramas and depression.

Goa ~  Vibes and Sand. . Time to pack and leave our minimal and  beautifully-designed Oak room at the #Treebo Turtle Resort in #Goa. I had a fantastic stay here and their service is top-notch (details will follow on my blog soon!). . Hope you are having a fab Sunday! I am! Check my Snapchat to check it out ??? [sab_storyteller]

A post shared by s a b r i n a ANDREA s a c h s (@the_storyteller) on Dec 6, 2015 at 2:30am PST

I love experiencing new cultures

This is probably the most common reason. I don’t travel to tick boxes on an imaginary list of countries (nor I count them if I only have a flight connection there, as some other bloggers do…..).  Immersing myself in a new culture is the “why” I keep traveling without getting bored or tired. I love understanding new people, culture and history behind the country or a city.

{ City of Lights } |  India shaped my mind, anchored my identity, influenced my beliefs, and made me who I am. ... India matters to me and I would like to matter to India. - Shashi Tharoor. . One of the most incredible and unique cities I've visited during my three months in #India last year, was the mystic city of Varanasi. I've never witness or felt the power of faith as strong anywhere else in the world. It's a city where energies, cultures, religions and myths melt in a unique and magnetic way. . I'm proud to be working with @f5escapes, an incredible travel agency in India dedicated to empower women travellers to visit the most beautiful country in the world. F5Escapes is now taking bookings for the next tours (November / March), if you are interested in prices and itinerary, please leave me a comment or email me (in bio). And remember to tag those friends of yours who always wanted to visit India and haven't done so: help me to spread the world about this incredible initiative. . . . #incredibleindia #discoverindia #womenpower #womentravellers #women #womensolotravel #indianperfection #indianwomen #religion #faith #varanasi #ganga #gange #babu #hindu #olympusinspired #olympus #sunrise #yoga #spirituality #mindfulness #meditation

A post shared by s a b r i n a ANDREA s a c h s (@the_storyteller) on Jul 30, 2016 at 11:58pm PDT

I love people and I am intrigued by them – regardless of their colour, religion, belief or appearance. Call me weird, but I’m fascinated by the differences we have in the world.

If you stay in one place all your life, you will never really get how the world works. You will never understand the real reasons behind things you read about on newspapers or watch on telly. You will put a limit on your life and your world. Don’t.

I love meeting new people

Since I have started traveling and forced by the situations, I found my old self somewhere inside me. I remember the young Sabrina – social and not afraid to chat to people. It took some time to dig her out and convince her to come out of the shyness closet. She was covered by layers of corporate life, but at some point she did and we are now inseparable. (It’s me, in case you didn’t get it) I’ve managed to make some great friends and some of my fondest memories of travel have been moments with the people that I met on the road.

I told you I was going to post more street photography and here I am with these three beautiful kids who stopped me at the market in #Jaipur asking me to take their portrait this morning. I'm loving my time here and mainly I'm loving the people I'm meeting. Everybody is so warm and friendly and I'm totally falling in love with this country. I might well skip my next destinations and just stay in India until December.. ? . On another note, #todayImet another great local instagrammer @the.indian.traveller who like me just left his job to pursue his dream of travelling and exploring India. Check his feed and wish him luck for his trip! Every day the power to connect like-minded people amaze me and I'm ever so grateful to Instagram for being "the best travel app"ever created. ? . #thestoryteller__inIndia •  #incredibleindia • #neverstopexploring • #passionpassport • #thestorytellermeetsthelocals • #ohmyindia • #_soi . Additionally, if you're interested in collaborating with me as an individual or for your brand here in India, please drop me a note, I'd love to connect with inspirational and local  brands while I'm here. I'd love to hear and share your stories. I'm travelling through Rajasthan for the next 3 weeks before heading to Mumbai at the end of the month and we can arrange something. . Shot on my Olympus #olympusinspired #welcometothefamily #openmyworld

A post shared by s a b r i n a ANDREA s a c h s (@the_storyteller) on Oct 3, 2015 at 10:37am PDT

I love surprises and being out of control

I used to be a total control freak who wanted to know every single detail of my day/  week / month ahead. In the last year, I had to drop that in favour of the unexpected, the magic of not knowing where you are going, if you  are sleeping and what you are going to do or who you are going meet.

This is the pure sense of adventure and I love the fact that every day is exactly like that. Ask me where I am going to be during Christmas this year – I have no clue. Or where I’m going after the Pacific Islands – no idea, the world is my oyster.

Looking out at the Duomo from the @museodel900 - the museum in #Milan where some of my favourite artists' artwork reside here, including De Chirico, Picasso and Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space", which I studied at school and longed to see with my eyes all these years. I will show some my favourites on my blog post/city-guide in the next few days.  #neverstopexploring #whatitalyis #museodel900 #olympusinspired #thestoryteller_initaly  Thank you @elisagram & @museodel900

A post shared by s a b r i n a ANDREA s a c h s (@the_storyteller) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:37am PDT

I love learning!

Learning is a strong reason why people travel. They want to experience something unfamiliar and leave with new skills or knowledge. Seeing the world is more educational than a high school or college class. This real-life course of discovering how the rest of the world lives covers subjects you might have hated at school, but you will love now.

And because you’re actually experiencing this learning in real life, not reading it in a textbook, it will stay with you for a long time. In fact, it will stay with you, forever.

I love traveling because I love my life.

Ultimately, I love travelling because it helped me to appreciate my life. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every single second. I love it. When I was working 14 hours in an office in London, I had no time to appreciate anything. Every day was the same, and there was little to appreciate beyond the always-too-far weekend.
Today, here, in this old sofa in a Bondi apartment, I am grateful for everything I have and am. I appreciate my day.

Excuse me now, the waves are calling, I gotta go catch ‘em.  See ya! (Note from Mandy, the editor: I got so jealous when I read that part)

Why do YOU travel?