His off time is spent working at a swimming and tennis recreational club. He just recently finished a season of men’s tennis at City College. He likes to go out with his buddies and play videogames with them. Sounds like your prototypical college male student right?

Wrong. 21 year-old City College student Austin McRonald has travelled to Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, and Denmark just most recently this past summer. Not only has he travelled out of the country, but he’s been all over the United States as well including places like Boston, Salt Lake City, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon.

Austin grew up travelling to exotic places with his family on the regular. His father is an airline pilot so his family almost always got to travel for free. So trips to the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, and Mexico was only a short sweet trip away.

“Having a dad as an airline pilot definitely made travelling and going places a lot easier” Austin said.

Travelling isn’t just fun and games for Austin either. He believes that there is a bigger picture than just getting a tan in Amsterdam or meeting women in France although those are nice perks of travelling.

“I personally travel because I like to get out of the country and I like to submerse myself in other cultures. Just experience and meet new people even if they can’t understand me and I can’t understand them. You can still get idea of understanding from body language. But mainly to educate myself and make myself a more rounded person.” Said Austin.

Education is the path to a great career. Austin takes value in his travel experiences and believes that his experiences will have an impact on his future.

“My major is English and I believe I want to be a writer. I watch a lot of foreign films so when I travel I have some knowledge of their customs and cultures. Maybe I might want to do something with film or literature.”

When asked about what he did for spring break Austin said that he just stayed home and worked. Everybody has to make money and work sometimes right? The next place that he wants to go is to Italy because he thinks it’s a beautiful place. Austin also stated that he wouldn’t mind taking part in study abroad, a school program that allows students to travel to different countries and receives semester credits for doing it.

Ryan Price, Austin’s best friend said of him “Austin is very personable and makes friends where ever he goes. He’s intelligent and works for what he gets.”

Those are traits that would be very helpful when being a world traveler. Sounds like the tools of success when dealing with literature and writing too. And it can go a long way when playing a competitive sport like tennis also.

Austin sends a message without even saying it verbally. Travelling to different places in the world can make all qualities of a human being better. Doesn’t sound like a bad idea to be a world traveler.