A Trip Down Memory Lane - On Feeding My Wanderlust.

Hi, My name is Cassie Daves and every now and then, I find myself down with a serious case of wanderlust. I can’t help it. And I doubt I’ll ever be cured of it.

My love for travel is something that has been brewing in me for the longest time. As a teenager, It started as a longing to escape the confines of my immediate environment. To start afresh someplace where nobody knew my name.

Over time though, it has morphed into something else. And thankfully, something more lighthearted than the need to escape.

The first trip that gave real meaning to this curious case of wanderlust was my trip to Cotonou with a few friends two years ago. It was my first time out of Nigeria on my own (without the cocoon of family) and it made me realize just how freeing travel is.

Related: 5 Places I Want To Visit In Nigeria This Year.

I love the feeling I get from exploring new places, seeing new sights and breathing in new air. I love meeting new people and learning about new cultures.

There’s just something about comparing notes and realizing that some things aren’t peculiar to just your people, or that some things are done in ways you couldn’t have possibly dreamt up.

Finding out that women/people in Cotonou ride bikes as their normal means of transportation was quite fascinating for me. Or that they sell fuel on the roadside, in bottles like you would with palm oil or kerosene in Lagos markets.

Here's How I'm Feeding My Wander-Lust! Click To Tweet

Travel expands your mind to the world outside and makes you see things from a new light. You realize that there’s no one way to live life. And for this fact alone, I’m grateful for it.

Another unusual reason I love to travel is the feeling I get seeing a place I’ve been to online or having it pop up in conversations with people. It’s that “oh hey I can relate feeling!” Haha

Sometime last year, I was nestled in a homely hotel in Accra having friendly banter with the receptionist and listening to her “Eiii” and “Ooiii” over everything.

I had heard that Ghanaians make the most amusing sounds to show surprise and it was priceless actually seeing it in action.

Related: My experience travelling from Lagos to Ghana

Unfortunately, I haven’t been to many of the countries that plague my dreams, but I make it a point to try to explore more of my own country in the meantime.

For me, the allure in travel isn’t so much about “seeing fancy” places, but more about getting out there and seeing/experiencing new things.

So whether it is just Abeokuta to view the colonial houses, walking to the point of no return and learning about the slave trade in Badagry, braving the scary Ngwo forest/caves in Enugu, or hiking to the very last stop at Erin Ijesha waterfalls in Osun. I’m guaranteed to always leave with a fresher insight to the workings of my mind and body.