I am only just turning eighteen and I can't wait because that's when I can finally escape from my parents' grasp and travel the Earth. I have made a list of my top ten favourite countries and refuse to settle down until I have spent at least two years in each one.

Travelling, I think, helps you in various different ways. It's a chance to experience a lot of new things and appreciate how small you are and how big the universe is. It's a chance to throw yourself into the unknown and hopefully come back out a better person. I think that every young person I know wants to travel, be it to the warm, exotic countries or the freezing "I think I've got frost bite" countries. Travel, I hope, will give me a sense of freedom which every young person dreams about and helps you learn about yourself. Travelling I believe also changes you. You're going to meet new people, experience new traditions, new landscapes, new customs and some things will stick.

Now some older people I have come across can't stop declaring to the world how boring and tiresome travel is. They go on and on about the one time they went to this place and they got jetlag and were waiting forever to get their luggage back and how dirty the hotel was and how the rain wouldn't stop pouring down out of the heavens. Just stop! These people, my friends find themselves confined to boring nine to five jobs, living in a house that has a mortgage ten times bigger then their income and watching self-help programmes religiously. These people annoy the hell out of me.

On the other hand, you have the people who travel from Hong Kong to Iceland and back again with nothing but the shirt on their back. These people live everywhere and don't worry about money and the likes. These people have seen more stuff in their lifetime then we can ever hope to see and they are happier and much healthier mentally then anyone I know.

So there you have my reasons of why I think that travel is very important. Hopefully you will find yourself on top of the Eiffel Tower or gambling in Vegas ,whatever your taste is. Just don't forget to send me a postcard.