Vawn's Blog

Why we need to travel

VAWN HIMMELSBACH, Chic Savvy Travels

When you’re traveling solo, there will undoubtedly be moments when you doubt your decision. Like when you’re being interrogated by corrupt officials with large guns at a border crossing. Or when some guy keeps trying to grope you on a 16-hour bus ride. Or when you’re curled up on a mattress in a $1-a-night thatched-roof hut with stomach cramps and fever — and the realization that no one in the world knows where you are. Sometimes it’s just a moment of homesickness — longing for a real cup of coffee, not Nescafe with ants in the sugar bowl.

Those moments pass, of course, and they become amusing tales to share with friends over a beer — sometimes even fond memories that bring a smile to your face (much, much later). But in the heat of the moment, it can be hard to keep your cool — god knows I’ve had meltdowns in pretty much every country I’ve ever traveled to, as recently as a couple of weeks ago when I got stuck in customs, missed my flight and started bawling my eyes out (to the mortification of all the people around me).

But I found something that helps me get through those rough patches (and I’m not talking about whiskey…). Years ago, I came across a quote on the Internet, printed it out and stuck it in my passport — I don’t remember where I found it, and I have no clue who wrote it, but in those moments of doubt I’d pull it out and read it. Sometimes I’d forget it was there, and when I’d hand over my passport to an official, this scrap of paper would fall out and remind me, once again, why I travel:

“We need to travel. If we don’t offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull, our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don’t lift to the horizon, our ears don’t hear the sounds around us. Our experience is restricted, as we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and we find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days.

Don’t let yourself become one of those people. The fear of the unknown and the lure of the comfortable will conspire to keep you from taking the chances a traveler has to take. But, if you take them, you will never regret your choice. Sure, there will be moments of doubt when you stand alone, on an empty road, in icy rain, or when you are ill with fever in a rented bed — but as the pains come, so too will they fade away. In the end, you will be so much stronger, so much clearer and a so much happier person, that all the risk and hardship will seem like nothing compared to the knowledge you have gained, and the life you have lived.”

To whoever wrote this, thanks for your words of inspiration — they continue to remind me why it’s so important to step outside of your comfort zone, even if you have to drink Nescafe with ants floating around in it. After all, when you finally get home and order a real cup of coffee at your favourite local coffee shop (Broadview Espresso!), it will taste like the best thing in the world and make you ridiculously happy.
Vawn

Date Added: June 8, 2011 | Comments (0)