Tag Archives: perspective

Long Term Travel

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Long Term Travel (LTT) is a must.  Something like 6+ months.  No fixed return date is optimal and 3rd world destinations can be game changing.  LTT is a journey of self discovery.  We’re all conditioned through years of habits, routines and patterns.  LTT is the ultimate disruptor.  You begin to discard some of these layers while you travel.  And after awhile, you begin to molt, shedding the old skin to make room for new growth.

As with all travel, it’s a tidal wave of input.  Shocked into alertness and snapped into the present. But it’s a completely different experience from a 2 week vacation to Cabo.  It’s like waking up and coming off auto-pilot.  It’s taken years to build up that exterior and it takes time to unravel.  LTT challenges you in different ways than a vacation by the shear enormity of the trip.

Consider staying in youth hostels or somewhere off the grid.  Keep expenses down and experiences up.  Don’t have too many plans.  Be open to where the wind blows you.  Some of the best opportunities for both growth and fun come from getting to know fellow travelers.  Perhaps you’re in Costa Rica and come across a group of Germans, Australians and Israelis in your hostel.  A night of talking, debating, arguing, laughing…  Priceless.

LTT is a teacher.  A purveyor of experiences.  See, it’s those years of habits and routines which make up our exterior.  Our skin.  But it’s not who we truly are.  You discard these layers, like pealing an onion, revealing something more genuine.  An opportunity to think about what’s really important.  Your values.  Goals.  Morals.  Who are you?  What do you want to get out of life?  The enormity of this precious, fleeting gift.

Consider going after college or in-between jobs.  Things have a way of getting more complicated as you age, so don’t put it off for a future which may never come.  Go where you’ve always dreamed of and then dream some more.  Be open to possibilities.  Have genuine conversations.  Keep your eyes open and off screens.  Learn.  Go solo or with friends.  And, if you pay attention, a different version of yourself is revealed.  And, heck, at a bare minimum, you’ll end up with memories which will last a lifetime.

For specifics on how to actually do it, read Vagabonding : an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel – Rolf Potts.

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Pale Blue Dot – Perspective

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pale-blue-dot

There are more stars in our Universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of Earth.  And conversely, a single grain of sand has more atoms than there are stars in the Universe…  How can we process our own insignificance in the backdrop of these perspective shattering facts?

As many of us struggle with the greater questions on the meaning of life, the pursuit of happiness and purpose, this question is both meaningless and our road to salvation.

When we examine the profound statements of Carl Sagan, he eloquently reflects on how “[o]ur planet is a lonely spec in the great enveloping cosmic dark.”  He challenges us to:

“Look again at that dot.  That’s here. That’s home.  That’s us.  On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.  The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

I’m not really sure how to process something which so completely obliterates my limited perspective…  But it seems there is some kind of grace in pushing forward exactly because of this truth.  Continuing to strive for decency, to practice compassion and empathy with the complete understanding that it both doesn’t matter and is the only thing which matters.  It matters for the same reason that one should strive to do the right thing when no one is looking.

So, what’s the practical lesson?  Well, at a minimum, it’s a tool to help us “get a grip” the next time we are quick to anger or frustration over what is guaranteed to be something insignificant, because it’s all insignificant.  And it’s a reminder that striving to do the right thing must be it’s own reward.  To quiet the internal voices of discord and bring some level of inner calm.  So, even from a purely self interested perspective,  one should embrace our own insignificance.

 

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