I want the answer to be yes. When I travel, especially internationally, it gives me time outside of my normal routine and forced downtime while on a plane, in a car, in an airport, to think about my life and how I want it to be. Maybe the thrill of being out of the office and on vacation mixes with the thrilling idea of a whole new, better life and the euphoria makes it all seem so possible. I make lists of changes I want to make, even if it is just how to save money to afford my next trip.
But do I really make a lasting change when I get back to the daily grind? The fact that I refer to my life as the daily grind hints at the answer.
Coming home on the plane from a trek in Nepal, it occurred to me it’s not good to live your whole year just looking forward to the next trip. You have to find adventure and joy in your life each day. So I asked the question, how do I do that? I considered things that had made me happier in the past. I started meditating again. I started The Artist’s Way to see if it would help me get on with my goal of writing several novels. And I started looking differently at deaccumulating.
I am often stymied by the overflow of stuff I have. I can’t find things, I can’t invite people over without jamming it all in a closet, and yet I keep buying more. The combination of being in a place where the average daily salary is about $1 and the fact that I was only traveling with what could be carried up the mountain by a porter means that I was looking more closely at what I actually needed and what I didn’t. My sunburn taught me good quality sunscreen was a necessity, the two books I didn’t read were a waste because I was always hanging out with other trekkers. Water purification was a necessity, more than one set of warm clothes was unneeded bulk.
My apartment is covered with things I worry that I might need if I get rid of them. But if I can learn anything from travel, I hope it will be that I can have a great time with very little. As for the things that would make the trip a little more comfortable, I can usually do without them and the fun I’m having and the lightened load makes up for any discomfort.
So on the one hand, no, I did not come home and radically change my life. But each trip I’ve been on has been an education in some way, even if it is just finding out I can do something on my own or survive travel disasters. I look back at these when I consider whether I can accomplish something new that is out of my comfort zone. Did I change and am I changing due to my travels? Yes, even baby steps count. And they add up.
This blog topic is part of a monthly series wherein a group of bloggers will all write their take on the same topic and publish on the same day without having read any of the others. Here are links to the other blogs:
- William Pora: http://williampora.com
- Rebecca Harvey: http://bayoucitypostcards.blogspot.com/
- James McPherson: http://jalmcpherson.com/
- Jenna Sauber: http://jennasauber.com/
- Jon Lundell: http://therealmil.blogspot.com/
- Leslie Farnsworth: http://www.lesliefarnsworth.com/