♥

Aaron Bower

Date a girl who may never have an apartment that’s 100% spick and span. She will always be in transition. Forgive her whether she apologizes for it or not. It will all be worth it. Because a girl that travels will bring you the sands of the South Pacific in the crevices of her palms. She will bring you love in a dozen different ways. She will share love in a dozen different languages, from a dozen different worlds.

Love. Amore.

Amor. Liebe.

Amour. Liefde.

Mahal. Plyer.

Preem. Aloha.

Koi. Armastama.

And each time you will believe it more and more. You will believe the promise of this moment no matter how many times she might cross continents. And how much more wonderful is that? That she can love you, no matter how dangerously intoxicated… no, infested... she is with wanderlust. A girl who travels.

A girl who travels will want Italian espresso (or Japanese tea). She’ll know that a culture can be inhaled in a mug or a paper cup. She’ll know that, that world will find its way to her fingertips- shaking her very core. And she knows nothing lasts forever- that, that world (like everything else) can pass instantaneously with one final exhale.

She might need you to exchange your adventures for her secrets. And you might lose her in the crowd- within the blur of the metro cars, or the streams of luggage at JFK or CDG or YVR or LAX… but she’ll ALWAYS find her way back to you. Because tucked away behind her eyelids is an internal compass unlike any other.

If you haven’t been outside your own country- admit it to her. Admit that you haven’t left your own province or state. Even if you haven’t left your own backyard, she’ll love you. She’ll be hungry for your hunger- she’ll be brimming in possibility. And that’s just it.

Date a girl who travels- she will serve you an endless palette of possibilities. She will whisk you away to a world in which you could be anything you’ve ever wanted to be. A girl who understands reality- she’ll know that money has no weight in anything that truly matters. It will be inherent. She’ll know that love has no price. She’ll know that some people are so poor- all they have is money.

She will accept you. She will know how to say everything by saying nothing. She knows that there is a universal language and that a smile instantly builds bridges. And all at once, you’ll know. You’ll know that a girl who travels has a smile unlike any other. Unique in every way… moulded and transformed with every smile she received in return for hers.

Love’s currency- she’ll know that the smile she received from an Ecuadorian child in the small village of Pallatanga… a smile from a boy named Esteban meant more than just “Gracias.” It meant “Te quiero.” A place in between love and like. A place for family.

Date a girl who travels because she’ll know how to find family anywhere. And she’ll know how to carry them in the pockets of her heart. She knows that, with every beat, her blood… her every being… like rolling waves will inevitably pass through her heart- through (and past) each valve like memories that need not knock to gain entry. She knows that blood, like family, has to leave but will eventually come back. She knows that life’s secrets are learned with the heart.. that they are whispered through the ears and diffuse into the blood stream… to find their way back to the source… the ultimate destination.

Date a girl who travels because she knows that “Ciao” can mean hello and goodbye. But never at the same time. And she’ll know that everything in between is just another adventure- patiently waiting after “Ciao” and before “Ciao.”

Date a girl who has lost track of how many stamps have made their way into the sheets of her passport… giving birth to dreams in between those pages. They find rest tucked away in those sheets and she knows that another stamp is another promise of new life.

A citizen of the world- she will embrace you. Date the girl who travels because when you’re with her- it will always feel like home. Impervious to borders and lines- she will always see through all of your fronts. She’ll know how to unlock all that you have hiding in the blue depths of your eyes. And she’ll uncover all that you’ve shipwrecked. She’ll reveal that nothing is forgotten. She’ll do this to teach you that worlds can be unveiled and that treasure exists in corners and bends you didn’t even know you had. She’ll show you your potential. And most of all, she’ll teach you to hold onto that moment… the moment of rediscovery that can feel so familiar, and yet, so inexplicably (and overwhelmingly) different.

Date a girl who travels. She might not know the capital of every country. Forgive her. Because she can make up for it. With stories. WIth memories. With the promise of adventure. She will want to re-live it all with you as she describes…

…the Eiffel Tower’s breath-taking reflection in the river as she sat in a boat… she’ll tell you that it was iced in crystal-lights that glistened like fireflies hovering over the water…

…the moment she had to catch her breath after running fast and far… the way she nervously laughed after shouting “Attraversiamo!” as she escaped from the Policia with the 8 other Italian street vendors she had just become friends with…

...as she sat in quiet awe, surrounded by the neighbouring giants of Huayna Picchu

(and she swears that she felt them tugging at her soul- she felt infinite)…or how all of her insides- the important parts- her soul, her heart, her being… felt at peace as her ears filled with the Pacific… her back to the ocean floor and her lips desperately reaching to kiss the sun.

Date a girl who travels. Because she’ll share all of this with you. And what’s more, she’ll want to re-create all of this with you. She’ll let you have your fill of maps, of secrets… of her world. She’ll help you with your adventure. And she won’t be scared to give you her everything- because she has left and shed so much of herself along the way. Ready to be exposed. Preparing for the day that her Symposium ‘half’ wants to peel back all of her layers.

To be naked.

To be bare.

To be real

with you and for you.

She’ll give you her world- a world for you, and only you, to explore.

Date a girl who travels because there’s NOTHING like a girl who travels...

:))