Taylor Herperger is a writer and editor from Winnipeg, Canada. A lover of Guinness and window seats, Taylor got her first taste of international travel in 2007 and has been exploring the world slow and steadily ever since. In addition to her guides at Travel Lemming, Taylor can also be found chronicling her travel at her blog Taylor on a Trip.
🌟 Favorite Destinations:Croatia, Mexico, Prince Edward Island
🎓 Education: Metalworks Institute (Live Sound Production & Music Business Major, 2012)
✔️ Fun Facts: I grew up in a mining & farming town of 350 people. I worked in music promotions & marketing for 10 years before becoming a full time editor. I got my first tattoo at 17 – a John Lennon-themed peace sign that says “Imagine”.
Meet Taylor
Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Bogota, Colombia
Zion National Park, Utah, USA
Volcan Baru, Panama
📚 What was Your Favorite Travel Experience or Story?
When I was 25, I left my job in Canada to travel for 5 months in Europe with almost no plan. I had a hostel gig in Spain lined up for the first month, but after that I had an open-ended opportunity to go where I wanted and spend my money as I pleased. To be frank, I was a lost soul. Unemployed for the first time since college and lacking a north star, I found myself bumming from place to place as the stereotypical directionless millennial that rambling contemptuous think-pieces were written about at the time.
Then, about two months into my journey, I strolled into Brussels, Belgium. When I say I had no expectations for the place, I mean I had no expectations for the place. But within a day I had met a lovely fellow traveler, a woman from Michigan about the same age as me, and we decided to become friends and go to a nice restaurant to sample the beer and local cuisine.
There was a group of local men at the table next to ours, and midway through dinner one of them, who looked like a cross between Harry Potter and Captain Jack Sparrow, reached over and snagged a fry off my plate. Bold move for a complete stranger. He then explained that these were “quality Belgian frites” and they “must be consumed before they go cold”. I responded with “Sorry, I didn’t realize.” He scrunched his face and said, “Why are you saying sorry?! You mustn’t apologize for your place in the world. You are perfect!” It was a little intense, so I said, “But I’m Canadian, saying ‘sorry’ is just what we do!”
He and his friends then decided to dissect my soul and give me a lesson on happiness and not apologizing. After chatting for a few minutes, I asked him if he was truly happy. He said, “Darling, I am not happy. I am love. I am all emotions, happiness, sadness, anger. I am an action, not a reaction. Love is an action, fear is a reaction. Do not live in fear, live in love. So am I happy? No, as happiness implies something to be achieved. I am love, a state of being. I just am.”
Then, he had his entire table stand up in this (very crowded) restaurant and start chanting “You’re perfect” at me for what felt like a millennium. It was simultaneously a stroke of the ego and entirely embarrassing.
It was one of the weirdest, most spontaneous, encounters I’ve had while traveling. Yet, something switched in my brain that day and I continued on my trip in an entirely different state of mind. Turns out those men were in an entirely different state of mind that night too, but that’s a story for another day.
🗺️ What’s Your #1 Expert Travel Tip?
Leave room in your adventures for spontaneity. Have a general outline for your trip, but keep it open enough to say ‘yes’ to unexpected opportunities. Always keep your wits about you and follow your intuition, but don’t discount the magic of serendipity and going with the flow.
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