America used to be about something, we had to conquer and tame the West. It was our Manifest Destiny. But the West has been explored and conquered and settled. There’s nothing left for us to explore.

Wrong. There’s nothing left for us to explore on this Earth (well, there is with the oceans and stuff, but all the unexplored places really don’t interest me as much). That’s why I’m looking to the stars. I truly think that we’re on the brink of a beginning of space exploration that will only grow as we get older.

I’m sad, however, to think that I probably will never get to visit Mars or anywhere else in space (save, maybe, the moon because it’s so close). But just because I can’t visit there, doesn’t mean I can’t dream about it. I can’t consume my thoughts with it when there’s nothing else to think about. I have, actually, and I’m thinking about writing a piece on it.

Here’s the thing. I really wish I could be an explorer. I want my name to be in history books for finding things and naming things and being the first person to stick a flag in something. To me, that’s what life is about. However, with the lack of things to explore on Earth, I need to go to Mars to fulfill my dreams. I need to be an explorer in uncharted land with a journal and maybe a camera and a bag to carry new things home. I want to claim Mt. Zawacki for the rest of time. I want Zawacki to be a name that outdoes Magellan or Marco Polo or Lewis and Clark. Darwin who?

I don’t think I’ll ever be that household name because I could never go to Mars. Before I die, if we have manned missions to Mars, they’ll most likely be one-way. I could go to Mars and explore and name things and do everything else that I’ve always dreamed of doing, but I really don’t want to under those circumstances. You see, I’ve done that thing where I’ve just left home and it really wasn’t for me. That was even with knowing that I’d be home to see people in two years’ time. Those two years were the hardest I’ve ever made my way through and it wasn’t because I was off in some foreign land learning to do things in a foreign way. It was because I couldn’t easily see my friends and family. If I left home to explore, it’d only be if I knew there was absolutely nothing left for me on Earth.

I really want to explore Mars. I want to visit there and come back with stories. But it’s little more than a dream.

Where would you visit if you could visit anywhere?