I eagerly stay seated as my gaze follows the outside world rapidly moving in and out of focus. I rub my hands on the soft downy seats as I see the city emerge from the viridescent fields. The scintillating rays of the sun scatter over my face as the sounds of the outside world amplify as I descend the steps of the bus onto the newly paved sidewalks. The bustling streets overcrowd with people while I’m stumbling around trying to decrypt the cipher of lines and names. Although I strayed from the path most taken a new uncommercialized world surfaces, waiting to reveal its untold stories. Even though in awe of the scenery around me, I wonder to myself will I ever find my way out?

A stack of creased maps sessile on the edge of the glistening white desk some look brand new and smooth without any fringes on the sides of the paper. Others look worn out and scrunched with fold lines that go every which way diagonally, horizontally, and vertically all because I couldn’t figure out which fold was supposed to be first. Maps from all over Europe etch out the cities with intricate details about museums and unimaginable sites that are like fresco paintings right out of history. The lines veer and intersect with one another at different crossroads that all interconnect to form the foundation of the city. The blurring lines of cerulean blues, scarlet reds, plum purples, forest greens and all the other colors in bright vivid shades that attract the eye differentiate the transportation routes either by walking, tram, train, bus, and sometimes even by boat traveling all across Austrian lands.

I look up to see hundreds of people swarming around all on their way to complete their daily tasks like bees of a beehive. Some people are gallivanting while others rush with their mobile phones attached to their ears and others mostly tourists with large-scale cameras are weaving in an out of the labyrinth of people to find their desired location. As I saunter down the long narrow street the sweet aroma of the bakeries permeate my nose. I stop near the clear window and see the skyline of Salzberg reflected back to me when my eye catches the frail delicate women in the window painting the cooling pastries with swirling chocolate. My stare is disrupted when the tracks of the tram screech to a halt and I continue on my way examining the little passes trying to find the rest of the group.

My wavy coffee-colored hair flutters in the gust of wind like my curiosity that had been pulled by a group of street musicians. As the harmonious sounds fill my eardrums I begin to hum along. I wonder to myself about the different obstacles that these musicians have faced just to be able to play their music. I watch the small children play in the water stomping out of rhythm to the music bringing a massive smile to my face and causing the wrinkles of the ends of my eyes to lift. The warm laughter surrounds me sending me into a state of elation. Although in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces of people I just met we all sit listening to each other’s stories and learning a lesson or two. The rays of the sun reflect off the golden caramel specks of my chestnut eyes as my demeanor relaxes and the conversations deepen.

The thing that these maps carry is my sense of adventure of always wanting to explore and learn more things. On all the trips I have gone on I try to keep the maps, boarding passes, and bus schedules with me reminding me that the world we live in is so vast. Plus, all the people in it have gone through so much and that every person has a different story to share, and I want to listen to and learn from what they experienced. Without these maps and the memories they hold and how they remind me of what is important I would lose who I am. So with these maps, I keep the memories of the good, bad, and unforgettable with me to remind me to cherish and live every moment in my life.