Travel is popular, fun and is something a lot of people want to do more of. But what are we getting out of travel? If we’re just using it to escape and recover from our daily grind then perhaps were missing something.
Travel costs time and money and if we’re not careful can be environmentally damaging. So every trip needs to pay it’s way and help us do more than party ourselves into oblivion. A lot of people brag about where they’ve been. They might not do this loudly, just the odd destination quietly dropped in conversation or the long line of travel books on the shelf. So what if you’ve seen the seven wonders of the world if you’ve come back with the same neuroses and bad habits? What we would really like is for travel to help us on our personal journeys, that the real travel helps the metaphorical finding our way along the path.
I believe that there are ways that travel can do this:
- It allows us to step out of the routine. The commute, day job, housework and usual duties are all suspended. Sure, some of them will be replaced for example if you’re self catering but they’ll be different. You won’t be able to cut the grass or redecorate the spare room when you’re on holiday. This creates some mental space if you can stop thinking about these things.
- There will be different things to experience and stimulate us. These don’t have to be exotic like seeing wilder beast on safari but they do have to be different. Examples could be watching some people playing chess in a bar or trying to figure out how the tickets on the metro system work in a new city. These things will prompt thoughts and ideas if we let them and if we haven’t filled up our mental space with noise and incessant activity.
- Inevitably there will be some time to stop on your trip. This may be the result of waiting for a plane or a train or because you’ve wisely planned to have a bit of time to watch the world go by and reflect. During this time you can sift through the new experiences and ideas, compare them against your routine existence and see what conclusions you can draw.
It may be the sum total of this is that you realize that you are the same angst ridden neurotic wherever you are or it may be something simple like if there are people in Brussels who can find time during the week for a game of chess then you will as well.
It will be difficult to predict what any trip will do. It will depend on how quickly you can settle the mind down from the chatter and noise of daily routine and open it up to the fresh experiences. It will also depend on what you come across. For this reason it’s always a good idea to get off the beaten trail where all you are going to see is the stuff pictured in the guide book and a lot of tourists.
Lastly, the unconscious mind will be processing these experiences and who knows when or what will surface and what will create some mysterious spark of inspiration. Just take whatever it is and use it creatively to take action.
Where have you been on inspirational journeys and what came from them?
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3 comments
Steve Harding
September 2, 2012 at 8:01 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hi Peter,
A very topical article, especially as I am off to travel through France this week.
A couple of things I have noticed about the affect of travel / holidays on the way I think:-
a) The temporary break from routine, allows us to look at the routine from more of a distance. Most of us settle into the routine and suddenly it becomes just what we do. A break, even if just a week or fortnight, induces an environment where you can legitimately ask ‘is the routine really what I want’.
b) Amoungst the most interesting people I have met have been those I have met whilst travelling. This is not to say the the people I normally meet at work are not interesting, it’s just that I am used to them because I spend a lot of time with them.
The people I meet whilst travelling are almost exclusively new to me, have different ideas, views and attitudes and this in itself can be eye opening and thought provoking.
c) When ‘not in the routine’, time usually makes itself available to us in some form or another. Such time, if combined with a mind free from having to think about what it normally does when in the routine, is at liberty to focus its creativity on new ideas, plans and ‘what do I want to do nexts’.
d) In fact, time is perhaps travel’s main gift. They say that time is the bank account upon which you can only make withdrawals. Therefore, why should we spend so much of it in the daily grind. Why should we not arrange things such that we spend more from our precious bank account doing things we enjoy the most ?
Peter Hall
September 3, 2012 at 8:24 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Thanks for you comments. Your last point about deciding how we spend our time is very true. Enjoy France.
Peter Hall recently posted..How travel can inspire
Steve
September 3, 2012 at 1:04 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I think travel is such a great way to open your mind up to new experiences and inspiration. I find that the best trips are the ones where I push my comfort zone into trying new things. Whether that means meeting new people or trying some crazy new activity, it doesn’t matter. It seems as if those things that push me into new experiences are the best. Plus travel gives me a great opportunity to look at my own life back home and give me new perspective.
Steve recently posted..5 Things You Should Be Able to Say Before You Die