Why Travel?

Last night I met a girl from Europe who saw me drawing and asked about my trip. When I told her about it, all the traveling I was doing, and why I was doing it, she was pretty adamantly against it. She said: “You don’t have to travel to find yourself. It’s just the trendy thing to do nowadays.” She went on to add that the place to ‘find yourself’ is at home and then asked “what’s the benefit of travel or meeting people when you travel because, out of all the people you meet, how many do you actually know?”

It definitely made me think. Why am I traveling right now and what have I gained from it if anything?

While I would agree with her that you don’t ‘have to’ travel to find yourself, I would argue that there are many benefits of it. And going when you feel ‘lost’ in life is exactly the time to do it.

For me, the reason I’m traveling is very personal, and I believe has a much greater purpose that has nothing to do with trying to keep up with trends, or look cool. In fact, those aren’t even on my agenda. The reason I decided to do all this traveling is because I felt stuck, not so much literally, but metaphorically. I felt stuck in my mind. I was paralyzed with fear. I was so caught up in ‘who I was supposed to be.’ I was so stuck in trying to please everybody else and be what I thought people wanted me to be. And I was scared to leave because of what I thought I might miss out on.

The truth is, we all have different goals, dreams, circumstances, etc. Trying to please everyone is pointless. Trying to find validation through if we are ‘keeping up’ with everyone else is also pointless. I used to ask people: “What age were you when…?” for just about every phase of life. I was so worried I would fall behind, or that my story would be different than theirs. I was so worried I would be passed up. I was so worried I would be judged. But that’s just living in fear. That’s living in worry. That kind of living will either paralyze you or shake you back and forth nonstop.

For me, I feel like traveling is just a sped up heightened version of everyday life. Everyday you wake up not really knowing what will happen. You’re on a time limit so you’re a little worried you might ‘miss out’ on seeing something while you’re there.

On top of that, most all relationships we make are temporary. Some last longer than others, but at the end of the day, aside from your family there aren’t a whole lot of people we meet that we stay connected with our entire lives. That doesn’t mean those relationships aren’t important, or that we can’t gain something valuable from those people or vice versa.

So yes, I think traveling can be an incredible experience. Really just getting away from ourselves and getting out of our comfort zones in general is a great experience. When we get out of our comfort zones, we are forced to re-evaluate ourselves, and then create change.

I know that not everyone gets to travel, and I’m very fortunate to have done what I’ve done. But everyone can get out of their comfort zones, tackle challenges, and make changes. It can happen on the road, or at home. But yes, there is benefit to getting away from your norm and experiencing something new.