7 important things that travel teaches us

As November came to an end, Tony and I spent nine lovely days in Vancouver this year. He was there for work and I was fortunate to be able to tag along, thus getting to enjoy my only trip so far (and most likely, for all of) this year. I'd long made peace with the idea that I wouldn't be traveling at all in 2015, so the sudden surprise of this getaway and the ensuing days spent in Vancouver was really and truly one of the best (early) Christmas presents I could have possibly asked for.

Like most enjoyable trips, this one felt like it flew by about as quickly as it takes to zip up a suitcase. Yet over the course of those nine days, I had a chance to do a lot of deep thinking - something, a blessing really, that travel almost always affords me and which is actually one of my favourite elements of getting away from home for a while - and also to be presented with various reminders of why it's so incredibly important to venture forth from our usual locations and daily lives alike at least every once in a while.

While most of us might, objectively, already be aware of the following points, it can be humbling and poignant alike to be reminded of them when we travel. Each of the following seven life lessons arose from me and/or both of us on our recent trip to Vancouver and while they're still all bracingly fresh in my mind, I wanted to share them here with you.


1. The journey can be as important as the final destination: This is so, so true. Case in point in a rather literal sense of the meaning: en route to Vancouver our GPS got a bit confused in the small town of Hope (as it has in the past) and ended up suggesting we take the back route (well, more like the non-highway route as opposed to an actual off-the-beaten path road).

At first we worried this would slow down our arrival time, but in the end it did no such thing and was an exciting way to go through several small and medium sized towns that I hadn't seen since I was a youngster and which Tony had never even so much as driven through so far. Each one brought back its own fun memories from many (many!) years ago and made me realize just how much time had elapsed since I was last in the neck of the (urban) woods.


So don't fear if you get a little lost, side tracked or turned around. It's all good and chances are, it will all work out in the end. Enjoy, savour, and relish the journey, for it is often every bit as amazing (and memorable!) as the destination itself.


2. The more you travel, the more you grow as a person: Seriously, you do. You learn things about yourself, you think outside of the box (or suitcase!), you make compromises, you try new things, you put some of your fears on the back burner, you challenge your own perceptions, you are confronted by personal demons and angels alike, and often you come home wiser (and more sure of your future) than when you left.


3. There's no time like the present: When in Rome is scarcely more apt than on a trip - be it to Italy or elsewhere. Seize the moment, give that funky looking restaurant a try, go parasailing with the friends you just made two days ago, splurge on that vintage hat/record/mountain bike/etc that you know you'll likely never find the same one of you in town (or perhaps even anywhere!), take a million photos (and Instagram them all!), go night swimming - just have a blast, live in the moment, and really get to know the soul of your destination. Chances are, it will stay with your own for ages to come.


4. You can easily - and happily - get by for a long time (if not forever) with a substantially reduced number of possessions and/or a small living space: I've never lived in a particularly large house, however all but a couple of my homes have been a fair bigger than your average budget friendly hotel room, yet I'm often struck when in one (a hotel room, that is) how easily and happily I can manage with the basic creature comforts (bed, powder room, hopefully a kitchenette, a desk or table and chairs, etc) and not yearn for more. Ditto for whatever I packed in my suitcase(s).

It might not have seemed like a ton back home, but in the sun or man-made light streaming through a hotel window, it often seems like an abundance and I delight in the creative styling challenges that such a small (temporary) capsule wardrobe provides. Each time I travel, I feel the need for less and less back home and am ever more content with what I already have.


5. We all need to step away from our computers/phones/tablets more often: The irony of saying this on a blog is not lost on me, I promise you. The longer that society as a whole becomes ever more immersed in the digital world, the more I feel, incredibly strongly, that we truly need to take more time out of most days to ensure that we connect with the real world, too. Get out there. Smell the salt air, let the wind whip your scarf around, read in the park, walk the joyfully noisy streets of a big city, fall asleep under the stars.

By all means, we can certainly use and benefit from the web, but we also need the original spider webs tangled in Mother Nature garden, real smiles not just emoticons, hugs from people in person, not merely trivial likes on a glowing electronic screen.


6. You may very well hate and also love a great deal about yourself and your current life while you travel: Without fail, I experience this to some degree whenever I travel. It's become almost like a ritual of sorts for me, but just like an intense sauna session, I know that from it, I'll sweat out some proverbial toxins and emerge with a clearer head and a renewed glow about me, so I roll with the punches and let them help to - see point #2 above - become a happier/wiser/hopefully better person.

In the same vein, I find it's important to remember that the person you are when you're away from your home environment - be it hiking the Alps, shopping in NYC, or touring a castle in Scotland - is not necessarily the same individual that you may be when you're at your usual house, living your daily life, working your usual job, and dealing with the all of the pressures big and small of home. So just because you may experience such a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions, it doesn't mean that you're doing a complete 180 for good - though sometimes it does and that can be incredible unto itself.


7. Traveling can help you be bolder and or more confident and/or outgoing: Hard as it may be for those who have never known me in person to believe, I am quite often ridiculously shy, I'm the poster child for introverts everywhere, and I am not exactly world famous for being the most outgoing of people. I don't see these as negatives per se (especially not being an introvert, I adore that I am the way that I am on that front), but sometimes I'm the first to admit that it would be great to be less shy/timid and interestingly, I am often more fearless and apt to "put myself out there" when I travel.

I think the excitement, happiness and adrenaline of traveling all play a huge roll there, but it could also be the fact that I know, I may never get a chance to seize said moment (aka, point #4) again and don't want to miss it just because I have a swarm of butterflies in my stomach.

No matter where you usually fall on shy to turbo outgoing scale, travel gives us the chance to push the boulders that are our comfort zones and discover new sides of ourselves in the process, which can definitely better our lives once we're home (sweet home) again.





{Travel can be awash with important lessons of all sizes. These are but seven of them, each of which I was recently reminded of. What are some of the things you've learned and/or been reminded of thanks to taking trips? Stylish vintage lady traveler/adventurer image source.}

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I don't think that I've ever travelled, even just for a long weekend, away from my usual corner of the world and not had thoughts that went on to alter my future, be it on a small or a grand scale. When I travel, I often feel like I could let go of almost everything (save for our pets and my closest relationships) at home and be completely, 100% happy - and who knows, maybe I could be, but that isn't realistic and it certainly isn't apt to happen anytime soon (if ever).

For me, that desire goes back to points number 4 and 6 above in particular. I firmly believe that we're not always the same people when we travel and while a few days, weeks, or even months away from our usual existence can be a true godsend/very helpful/healing/cathartic experience, after a while, most of us would still want to return to at least some elements of the world, career and set of goals that we've worked so hard to create up until this point.

Instead of parting ways entirely with our lives, often the far smarter and more rational approach is to keep thinking about those important thoughts that we had while we were away and use them to build, better, change, and improve our worlds once we've returned home, unpacked the last item from our toiletries bag, and uploaded our travel snaps to our computers. So often we - very understandably - forget that we have the power to just that - to alter our lives in ways big and small - and that we can, and should, do just that on a very regular basis.

Some things are set in stone or unable to really be altered, but others often can be. Doing so might be scary, risky, expensive, or unknown, but those are not reasons to let our desire to grow and to be happier beings hold us back for one red second.

On the drive home, snow covered mountains flanking each side of the steep mountain roads we were traversing, Tony and I talked about this very point and decided that the actions we'll take from here on out - some presently known, others to be discovered as time goes on - in the pursuit of such will be called our Happiness Project.

We'll be looking for ways to concretely make our days even happier and to focus, realistically, on more of what we truly - in our heart of hearts - want out of life. For the greatest journey any of us will ever take is life itself and on that trip, there is always more to learn and see and do, which hopefully will include plenty more actual travelling to destinations near and far alike – lessons aplenty no doubt served up along the way.