What is it about traveling? A full-time traveler's thoughts.
What is it about traveling that makes us all salivate?
Everyone wants to do it, right?!
Some take a vacation once a year.
And during that time they feel more alive than they ever have the other 358 days of the year.
Many have pinterest boards full of places they'd love to visit.
You know the ones of Bali with the huts on the bluest, clearest water you've ever seen in your life?
Most feel like they've missed the window of being young and free, and end up putting traveling off another 30-40 years, waiting for the beloved retirement years.
What is it that you love about traveling?
- Is it the intense impact on your senses that you crave?
- Is it the novelty of being in a new place, eating new foods?
- Is it the excitement of seeing new attractions?
- Or is it just being away from your everyday life that can often feel so worn and known?
For me, traveling symbolizes freedom.
- It means new things everyday.
- It means facing fears, like figuring out my way through a new city, swimming in the ocean after watching Shark Week on Discovery, or going to a place where I don't know the language.
- It means standing outside my comfort zone and camping there for a bit, while sometimes roasting marshmallows.
- It means using my brain in different ways, like planning trips, learning money saving travel tricks, and researching attractions in every city. Traveling is my sudoku.
- It also means connecting with different people and learning more about life.
But here's why I think so many of us love it:
Traveling provokes the art of being present.
Think about the last time you traveled.
Did you wake up bouncing like a kid, ready to take on the new experiences, adventures or sights of your getaway?
You had plans, and you weren't afraid to live them!
Did you feel the inevitable and looming clock counting down your vacation time, signaling a return to real-life? Did that make you want to suck on every juicy part of your day, not wanting to miss a thing.
Ever wonder why you come back from vacation needing a vacation?
It's because you don't waste time on vacation.
You may do nothing but relax, but you don't waste time, because vacation time is precious.
Well, guess what? Vacation time is no more precious than the minutes you are taking to read this post.
Your everyday life.
See, the feeling you get while traveling may have less to do with the physical act of packing a suitcase and going somewhere.
What if the "traveling experience" we're all seeking is really a fruit of a life lived intentionally and fully present, a bi-product of a life that knows time is precious and that experiences matter?
The "traveling experience" can be lived right at home.
So, if you find yourself in between vacations, quit lusting after those exotic travel photos and start living! Get up. Get out. And purpose today a day for new experiences.
Eat at a restaurant you've never tried, or take a day trip and explore. Do something. Anything. Just shake up your life a bit and restore awareness.
Whatever you do, just live that moment with a full and present heart.
Hopefully, your life becomes a string of beautiful, adventurous moments that are lived and appreciated. And remember, those don't have to hinge on the date of your next big, planned vacation.
What is it about traveling that makes you want to do it?