you could stay in top-notch hotels, feast on exquisite and exorbitant dinners, get your hair and your nails done, doll yourself up, shop in high-end boutiques and vacation in a lavish manner.

you could sleep in youth hostels, explore the local public transport, make conversation with the locals/other backpackers, eat at cheap roadside stalls and take amazing photos of awesome places.

at the end of the day

when all that's left of you is an old foggey,

when these material things no longer matter,

will you remember the number of shoes you bought on vacation,

the taste of the exorbitant cuisine you ate,

or the skies/smiles of the lands that moved your heart once before?

though luxury appeals to some part in every single of us,

not wasting our youth,

let's walk this road with our feet,

not in the comfort of taxis,

and experience the world with our hands and eyes,

not with the content of our wallets.

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shopping trips are awesome but they only prove to me one learning point:

there is so much more to life and travelling than shopping.

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where to go from here?

my feet are itching to leave this familar land.