Toronto at midnight, I had a sudden revelation; “Sirine, you deserve a trip to Costa Rica”. One nanosecond later, I found myself googling “flights to Costa Rica”. Instantly, my brain was flooded by a rush of dopamine. I pictured myself on the white sand of an exotic island sipping on a delicious cocktail messing with the cute tiny pink umbrella. 5min later, I was back under my blanket and it was all doom and gloom. What happened? The travel requirements page happened! Granted, it doesn’t help that I was looking for a trip in just one week but still, the list brought me right to planet earth. This is not a rant about travel restrictions. In fact, I support any effort that must be taken to keep us safe. But this moment was the trigger to pause and reflect on a simple yet often overlooked question...
Why do many of us love traveling so much?
Do we just love discovering new cultures, places, food and experiences?-- possible. One layer deeper could be our insatiable appetite for novelty. It is another valid reason but… is it the full story?
I believe part of the answer lies in our eternal quest to connect with our authentic self and explore everything that is meant for us in this life. Before you virtually reach out to some crystals and sarcastically chant “peace and love!”, please allow me to elaborate on this thought …
#1 LABELS ARE OUT OF THE WINDOW
Each travel gives you the opportunity for a new start! In the eyes of any new encounter you are not Mr. blabla who works at blabla and who infamously did blabla last summer. You are just a human being. Period. There is a sense of a blank page and invigorating freedom as layers of constructed identity start peeling off. You can be whoever you feel like being. Not only does this allow us to connect with others at a more profound and sincere level but also, maybe more importantly, it gives us the rare opportunity to get in touch with the real self underneath all those labels that we accumulated willingly or unwillingly throughout the years.
#2 ALL THAT MATTERS IS THE NOW
On another occasion of genius midnight revelation, I booked 2 bus tickets for my visiting friend and I, departing from Chicago to Minnesota the next morning. Since it was his first time in the US, I thought it will be fun for him to check out another state. What I forgot to take into consideration was the freezing weather of January that turned our trip into a Survivor Episode but more on that in another post.
On the bright side, one thing stuck in my mind from that trip and made it all worth it. It was the absolute bliss on my friend’s face while taking pictures of…. Trees! Not fancy looking somehow unique trees-- Nope. Just plain regular Minnesota trees. So, I couldn’t help but ask him what he was seeing in these trees. He looked at me with BIG eyes and a huge grin: “They are not JUST trees; these are AMERICAN trees”.
This is when I realized that we were both going throughout the same experience but with different lenses. I was fighting the snow in my eyes and whining about being lost and freezing. He had the same snow in his eyes, but he was living in the NOW. He was noticing everything in his surrounding with total curiosity and wander. He was busy soaking up the beauty of his surrounding from city monuments to coffees, alleys, trees and everything in between. Everything was new to him, so he was fully immersed in the present time, the place where all the magic happens.
#3 RISK-TAKING BREEDS NEW OPPORTUNITIES
“I had the best trip ever. Everything was exactly like back home” Said no self-respecting traveler ever. We often travel to escape routine and shake things up. Unconsciously, we do many little actions to ensure that our experience turns out everything but our usual life. So, we find ourselves randomly speaking with strangers. We actively look for plans and say yes much more than usual. In other words, we take more risks and it pays off with the best travel stories for years to come. Traveling stretches our perception of what is possible and makes us much more enthusiastic to embrace the uncertainty of the unknown. Bonus point, those mini actions of bravery will jolt our self-esteem as we notice that we are putting ourselves out there and creating new experiences.
Just like a puzzle, each travel gives us the possibility to uncover another bit of ourselves and brings us closer to the full picture. Traveling is a practice for all those who are longing to feel fully aligned with themselves which is not obvious with all the distractions of the daily life.
Now, the big question is: Is it possible to recreate the high of travel and amass those benefits without hopping on the next flight out?
The answer is… A close enough YES.
# 1 Make friends from different walks of life
When we travel, we get exposed to a myriad of people from very different backgrounds that don’t share the same profile of our usual circle. We share perspectives, experiences and sometimes lifetime memories. Why not recreate that? We can purposefully attend events that we don't usually go to and increase the probability to meet completely different people. The furthest from your comfort zone, the better it is. Obviously, I am not recommending becoming besties with drug dealers but just opening up to other perspectives of life and allowing yourself to see the world differently throughout the eyes of others.
# 2 Make freedom into a daily practice
If you believe you are free like a bird, think again. It is true that we were born free joyful creatures. But slowly, life added layers of “musts” and “shoulds” we were “gently” directed to follow in order to be accepted in our modern society. With enough time, we become a composite of the original self, buried under multiple “adjustments”. If we don’t pay enough attention, one day we will ultimately wake up and not even recognize the person staring at us in the mirror.
Travel allows us to revive that authentic self by canceling all those things that built up our “upgraded version”. So, find yourself an activity that keeps you connected to your true liberated self on a daily basis. For example, in my case, I chose to do it throughout languages. I speak four and I teach one. Shifting freely from one language to another is a daily reminder that there are infinite options to embrace in this world and the choice to adopt one vs. another is always available to me at any time. What’s your freedom practice?
#3 Have a weekend trip in your neighborhood
Act like a tourist in your own city. Play the part all the way from the choice of your outfit to grabbing your camera and backpack. Once in the street, make it a point to look at everything like the first time by noticing everything on your way. You might feel silly in the beginning, but I promise, soon enough you will start discovering new things all around with a growing sense of curiosity. If that doesn’t make it for you and you prefer to be a man with a plan, choose a random category of food, fashion, music etc. the day before and immerse yourself in it for one day. For example, you can decide to dive deep into all vintage record stores of your city. The point is to discover something new, overlooked. Be ready to stumble on some gems ;)
In conclusion, we live in a period that pushes us to redefine traveling as we know it. As hard it is to accept, there is a silver lining in all of it. This might be the time to take off for the greatest trip of all, the one within.
