Some of the greatest minds on the planet felt the need to commemorate their travels in memoirs. They often abandoned everything to go travelling, yet again, and wrote about it.
Why, I wondered, when I was younger, would anyone forsake the comforts of their everyday life, for the discomfort of unfamiliarity and travel arrangements over and over and over again, so very often, and just so that they can then tell us about it in the end. Where’s the joy, ease and comfort in being an eternal tourist?
Then I turned 23 and my maturing mind began to cautiously circle the idea that perhaps nothing worthwhile is comfortable, easy or enjoyable all the time. “Smooth seas, never made a skilful sailor,” Right? (F. Roosevelt)
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Last year I went travelling around Europe and, whilst on a train from London to Paris, speeding past civilization, I found myself thinking of my own personal life journey.
And for the first time in my life, my mind, speeding down the “what’s the meaning of life” motorway, and my body, being carried on this fast-speed train to Paris, fell in perfect synchrony! The movement of travel mirrored the buzz in my mind, and soothed my impatience. I couldn’t flash forward to the realization of my dreams, but I could make the best of the precious opportunity to fully experience every step of the way.
That’s when I realised that it wasn’t a narcissistic urge to share the details of their vacation that drove people to travel and write travel memoirs, nor was it some unbridled hedonism. They travelled because they needed to know, or do, something that their 9-to-5 existences didn’t offer. On the road, they found enlightenment and the self-development tool shed that they so longed for.
In her book Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert famously heals her heart and soul, fulfils her life long dream of learning Italian, meets the love of her life and, well, produces a best seller.
This is why we do what we do. Life is a journey. The only way to bring something new is to do something new, see something new, and go somewhere new, out of the comfort of familiarity. Visit our Experiences page. See what inspires us and join us. Lets experience and grow together, dear fellow travellers! We hope to see you there! (And why not even read about it after! :) )
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Feature image by Frank McKenna @unsplash