The Size of the World

Dear Traveler,

Is the world big or small?

I grew up in a small town with smallish minds, thinking that fall was a made-up season. I knew in my heart that I wanted to do more. I wanted to see more. I learned quickly that small purses killed big dreams, but not mine. For every dream denied or unrealized, my dreams became lofty, soaring high above the naysayers, meanies, and financial realities.

By high school, I was the first in my family to leave the country, making the world I had dreamed about much grander. The world was definitely a magnificent place. I saw castles, cathedrals, and ruins. I connected with different-minded people and dreamers alike.

Since then, I have traveled and lived all over the world, and still have no answer. Is the world big or small?

It’s easy to say the world is ginormous when standing in a canyon, watching the fields get smaller as the plane rises, or swimming with the creatures of the ocean.

In these moments when I must expand to take in the world around me, I find myself asking, “Is the world big or am I small?”

Then I think about the slow tea-filled mornings I love no matter my coordinates, and learning new words from strangers abroad on the street, or getting well wishes from loved ones who wait for my stories of adventure. Most consider these moments to be small, everyday occurrences, ignoring their equally expansive nature and arguably greater importance.

Is it the small moments of kindness and connection that expand and fuel the awe-inspiring magnitude of our planet?

It is only now that I’ve thought about how unfair it is to try and measure the earth and my place in it. The world is the world. I am me. Both are forever growing and shrinking to fill a need. Maybe I don’t need to measure the world, but the angle at which I direct my attention.

What do you think, my fellow travelers? Is the world big or is it small?

Listen along with travel visuals!