Four years ago while working 14 hr shifts and going to a university full time I decided to write out my bucket list. I wrote it with the knowledge that if I were to ever do something I wanted I would have to know beforehand. I would have to know months beforehand. I have to know what my heart will want in the next 6 months to a year, because otherwise I might not be able to afford my dreams. Dreams cost money and they take planning. I learned this at a very young age that if I am to ever do something the only person I would be able to rely on was me.

I remember being in the fifth grade and my parents wouldn’t let me go on a school trip to meet my then pen pal in long island. They, like many parents coming from a poor country did not understand the idea of field trips. All day I stayed home, bawling my eyes out and googling travel. The first thing that would come up on the search engine was the Travel channels main website. There I saw all of the places I will most likely die without ever being able to see. Heck, even Long Island was off-limits at that time so what made me think that I would get close to the Amazon rain forest? Although I can appreciate the beauty in the world my longing for it is too grand to contain. I cannot watch earth porn without wanting to go. So far I have gone to Spain, Germany (twice), Amsterdam, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Canada and just last week I came back from Jamaica.  All of these trips I have fully paid for and planned. But I cannot see another picture of the Bolivia salt flats, the beautiful waters of Turkey and the festivals of Brazil without planning the day when I will be able to see it for myself.

I have found a balance between planning and spontaneity, but for the time being I have way too many dreams that cannot be put on hold. So every day I take some time for all of them. Just like in school, you have a segment per subject once I get home I have segments of my time dedicated to each individual dream.

Earth porn is for virgins. Although there is so much more I wish to see and do. I do not fantasize one minute without planning to see it for myself. In middle school when walking home with a group of friends one of my bits was to chase after runners yelling, “My mama told me to chase after my dreams!”  Although that statement is far from true, I knew from an early age that as parental units come in all quantities and shapes I would add myself to that list and become my largest influence. So in a way, yes my mama did tell me to chase after my dreams and her voice is only getting louder.