The #1 Thing I Learned Traveling the World
When I traveled around the world in 2006, I did so with a light wallet and huge dreams. I wanted to see-do-feel-touch everything. Although I had always made travel a priority in my life, I knew that a whole year in the world would be hard to come by again, and that I needed to make the most of every place I went.
Making the most of everything, though, didn't mean museums. It didn't mean guided tours and seeing the top sights in every country. It very rarely meant guidebooks. Instead, it meant being me.
Traveling around the world taught me about me, and, at its core it taught me to be me, even when being me meant being different than everybody else. The trip reminded me what I cared about and what I wanted to do with my time. It made me realize -- cue backpack I couldn't lift -- what I really wanted to haul around the world. (Books, it turned out. And face wash from every country I visited, apparently.)
As I eschewed many museums, I did manage to do some stuff. I climbed to Everest Base Camp. I skydived. I ran a marathon. I took a train across Russia (well, I started to, and then jumped off.) I went to zoos in nearly every country. And I did a whole lot of nothing. I read 100 books. I spend endless hours in coffee houses and on beaches, talking to folks I'd never meet again. I wrote. I people watched like never before. And then I sat around looking out at the blue.
And everywhere I went, I blogged about it.
At the end of that year, I'd learned a few things. But the most important thing was about me. About who I was, and what it meant to be me.
Years later, when I read Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, I felt at home when she said that one of her lessons from her year of learning to be happy was to be Gretchen.
I'm not Gretchen. I'm Claire. And my year in the world helped me learn to be the Claire I really am.
So, do you need to travel around the world to be you? Of course not.
(But maybe I did.)
Interested in world travel? Today's the last day to get bestselling author Adam Shepard's new travel memoir for free. Go get it here free.
Read the others posts in this around the world series below:
How I Blogged My Way Around the World
How Much Does it Cost to Travel Around the World? $18,000, I Say.
How to Travel the World for Less than You Spend At Home
Don't Think You Can Travel the World for a Year? Think Again.
Program Manager/ Learning Experience Designer and Facilitator/ Circular Economy expert - Designing to build transformative learning communities. Talking about #learningdesign #circulareconomy#humandesign
11 年Traveling and actually living in different countries has not only opened my eyes but also my mindset to other people, cultures and ethics. I'm glad to have packed my bags, when time was ripe even though I didn't speak English back then. I have found my limits by challenging myself on every move. I totally agree with you that finding yourself and being able to be with yourself is part of life's goal.
Research
11 年I can relate to this article coz I hv visited more than 30 countries
Legal Advisor at Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan
11 年I just wish to travell arround the world. Alas!
Facility and Maintenance Manager at Ventra Evart LLC a Flex-N-Gate company
11 年For the last 34 years I've been traveling the world with the military, work, and personal travel. I have learned to appreciate what I have, understand people and learn who I am. I've made friends everywhere I've been, I may or may not ever see or talk to them again, but if I ever got an email, letter, message or phone call from one of them my doors would be open. Family and Friends are people you care about and remember. I encourage everyone to go on their own adventure and learn who you are, and open your mind and heart, soak in the world.
Data & Analytics Engineering
11 年The single most important thing to add to your bucket list is the ability to sit in a state of NO-thought. Until you have done that, all travel is just confusion in motion.