When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in. — D.H. Lawrence
As my trip to Croatia and the Dalmatia Coast (May, 2018) slowly bleeds into my awareness , I’m once gain reminded of why I always prefer the road less traveled.
It’s a huge mistake to approach traveling as leisure. Booking the comfortable, all-inclusive vacation package which adds nothing more than unfamiliar solar rays, overused air conditioning, and on-demand margaritas is both a lost opportunity and a waste of money…imo :)
Traveling should be approached as an intentional, self-imposed challenge with the potential to permanently bend your life. The minute you step into a foreign land, everything becomes difficult, and while you can choose to take the safe route (arrange for a driver to greet you at the airport holding a friendly sign — look for the three pink palm trees with your last name spelled incorrectly in blue — who will escort you to your strangely familiar “Hiltonesque” hotel), I’ll never be convinced that the same experience can’t be achieved for a fraction of the cost. Who’s really traveling — you or your ego?
Growth occurs when we find our personal limits of comfort and capacity, regardless of whether we succeed or fail when we get there. Traveling, given the right approach, creates an endless cycle of opportunities to explore our own uncomfortable edges, and with each edge we’re forced to face, we find that the fear of subsequent challenges slowly gets replaced with anticipation and excitement. I believe this to be the optimal flow-state of travel that we should all be pursuing with each and every chance we get.
As humans, we were meant to face challenges. We all evolved within a process that rewards resilience and durability, and yet we’ve found ourselves in a modern software-enabled environment that no longer asks us to rely on our biology. If you strategically seek out discomfort, you’ll find that we all have a deep need for it. The beauty of travel is not just in the sights you see and people you meet, it’s what it does to scratch your primordial itch.
I always look forward to crossing that point of no return when you feel the wheel/runway separation and realize you’ve tricked yourself into a great challenge for which the cost of retreat is now too great. You’re committed. You have to stand up tall and move forward into ambiguity, knowing full well that a wave of inevitable failure awaits you as soon as you find yourself back on solid ground. This is the feeling of self-discovery. This is the the feeling of recognized potential. This is the feeling of shivering in the cold, knowing that unlying life will soon be rushing in.
