The world at my fingertips

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 

This week's prompt: World.   

I love to travel and I used to do so frequently. 

I took big and small trips. Some for pleasure, some for work. If given the opportunity to go somewhere, I went. Eagerly.

Then I got pregnant – a gift which we'd been hoping and praying for. And with the pregnancy came complications. A hospital stay in January resulted in my doctor “grounding” me, suggesting it would be unwise to travel.

So I canceled conferences and trips.

Now, 6 months later, my beautiful daughter is here. For that, I'm crazy thankful.

But I'm starting to experience some wanderlust; A desire to travel again; To show this girl the world and explore it together.

What I sometimes forget is that there are ways of exploring the world without leaving my own community. Yesterday, I drove to the store and as I did, we passed an apartment complex I've been to many times in order to welcome refugees to our country on the day they arrive. People from all over the world live in this apartment complex. By getting to know them, I can experience new customs and cultures in a place that's less than five minutes from my home. 

I have no doubt that one day my husband and I will travel extensively with our baby girl. But we need not wait until then to begin exploring the world that's already right here at our fingertips. All we have to do is get to know the people who live here in our own community.