Travel and time away from the daily routine of work and life are said to have significant mental and physical benefits. Many of us thrive on travel as a source of inspiration. Others become anxiety ridden with even the thought of leaving their home state, let alone traveling to faraway lands. My eighty-seven-year-old aunt refuses to fly in a plane and adamantly declines any opportunity to do so. This is an argument she will obviously win!
So why is it so challenging to commit to time away from our daily routine to seek new opportunities for mental and physical renewal? Is it the financial commitment or the pre-planning preparation that makes the thought of travel so daunting? Or is it the fear of the unknown that often keeps many people at home where they are comfortable with their surroundings?
LET THE EXPERIENCE UNFOLD
When I travel I like to let the adventure play out instead of feeling like every detail needs to be deliberately executed. Yes, plane and bus trips usually need to be booked and purchased well in advance, but opportunities unfold along the journey when we let them. The prospect of meeting new people and experiencing a differing perspective is something that is impossible to plan out, yet the encounters we experience on our journeys provide significant benefits both personally and professionally if we let them.
While on a recent trip to Guatemala with my son Caleb, we spent time in a country where we didn’t speak the language or totally understand the culture. The unknowns and the experience of being out of comfort zone were the best part of the trip! We had to ask others for assistance and use our hands and facial expressions to communicate and make our way. Yes, we often felt vulnerable, but we learned to trust others to help us navigate the country. In our daily lives, we often focus so much on being in control, but when we let others lead our level of trust in others and ourselves grows. The ability to navigate the unknown builds confidence and understanding. I gained a new level of empathy for others that will be important to my business and personal life as I interact with people who are also dealing with life’s challenges. The experience expanded my circle of understanding of the world, people, and mostly myself.
AS YOUR CIRCLE OF EXPERIENCE GROWS, SO DOES YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Our perspective of the world expanded through our trip to Guatemala along with our appreciation of all the blessings we have that we often take for granted. Others in the world experience extreme poverty and harsh living conditions that we really can’t imagine or understand without witnessing them first-hand. The woman who forages for recyclables at the dump to provide for her family, the baby who is born into a tiny household with dirt floors and a tin roof, and the eighty-year-old blind woman who cares for her severely disabled daughter all understand what it is like to live in a world with no safety net. They have no backup plan, no welfare system, no local food shelf to help when they are hungry. My perspective and outlook are forever changed. I can’t “un-see” what I have seen or “un-feel” what I have felt.
JUST DO IT
Unsure where to start when planning a trip? Ask a traveling friend, search the internet, read reviews and just book it! The typical cruise or Disney vacation only allows you to experience the tourist point of view. Consider the unconventional journey to lands where you don’t speak the language or understand the culture. In the end, we are all just people who are making our way through this thing called life. Have faith knowing the people you meet will help you along the way. Never have I gone without a bed to sleep in or an eventual mode of transportation to get me home. But I have been paid $1,200 to take an alternative flight because I was open to adjusting my schedule and letting the trip unfold without me having to plan out every detail.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
― Marcel Proust
Stuart Consulting 
Awesome thinking to live life a new.
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