“Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed, maybe they’re supposed to run wild until they find someone, just as wild, to run with.”

Date a girl who knows that time is more important than money, that experiences are more precious than things. Date a girl who knows the difference between a tourist and a traveler, and always choses to be the latter. Date a girl who reads instead of watches TV, who spends the night writing in a journal instead of texting. Date a girl who realizes that age is just a number, that simplicity is the key to happiness, and that life is meant to be enjoyed. Date a girl who buys the one way, not round-trip ticket, as she knows her travels are bound to last years, not weeks, passing through continents, not just cities. Date a girl who travels, a girl who sees the world as her playground and her life as an adventure.

She won’t know what to answer when you ask her where home is because home for her changes on a weekly basis. She will wear the same few clothes everyday, she knows that traveling light is important, but she will walk with such confidence that you will quickly overlook the trekking pants and merino wool t-shirt. She will be well spoken and articulate. She will know that education is more important than school, and will spend her rest days listening to science podcasts and reading non-fiction. She will be adamant that it’s our passions, not our fancy cars or careers, that define who we are. And you will be amazed just how many passions one girl can have.

She will speak three or four languages fluently, and know a handful of words from a dozen others. She will sit on the floor, rather than the couch, because she has spent too much time in Asia. She may even convince you to eat rice with your hands like she use to in India. She will appreciate the things we have – running water, working electricity, a hot shower – and will never complain about hardships or misfortunes as she has seen people struggle and strive in the harshest of places. She will be more interested in Mongolia and Tasmania than the latest fashion, and her bucket list will grow rather than shrink with each passing year. No mattered how much she has traveled, how much she has seen, her unquenchable thirst for more continues.

If you get the chance to date her, take her sky diving, skiing, or to an unexplored cave. A simple night at a restaurant won’t make an impression given the life she has been living. Unless you take her to a small local restaurant in Bolivia, the kind of place tourists never go. Then she will be impressed. And once you fall in love with her, remember this. Don’t pin her down, don’t even try, because a girl like this will always chose travel over love when forced to pick. So take off with her. Let her show you the extravagant world we live in. Let her show you the kindness, lifestyles, mountains, and animals our diverse planet has to offer. Soak it in and enjoy, because as you fall in love with her, you will fall in love with the world. You will realize that once you begin to see life as she does, there is no going back.

She will be independent, fiercely independent, but willing to be your partner all the same. She will know a thing or two about goodbyes, having lived a lifetimes worth already, yet she will still give herself over to you without fear. You will get lost together, and you will realize that getting lost with her couldn’t be any more wonderful. You will cycle through the Himalayas, climb your way through the Andes, and work in Australia. You too will realize that home is not a place, but rather a feeling, and together, you will make your home around the globe. You will participate in rituals you had never preciously dreamed of. You will explore countries you never even knew existed. You will learn that happiness comes from within, and you will realize that now you are the happiest you have ever been. You will meet inspiring people, and maybe even inspire a few others along the way.

Date a girl who travels. A girl who wants to open your eyes to a whole new world. A girl who sees adventure in the mundane and happiness in simplicity. A girl who is ready for life, ready in a way most people only dream about. Date a girl who travels, I promise you will never regret it.

*Inspired by Date A Girl Who Reads