Emotional Souvenirs

Hi Readers,

I will start off by saying that I love to travel. Whenever I am trapped in an environment for a long time, I just want to leave and find a new place to be, people to meet, and things to discover. But I often find this a dangerous game to play for one's long term mental well being. Let me explain.

People always think other people live better lives than they themselves do. I do all the time as well. Usually when I feel this, it is a feeling which quickly passes, because everyone around me had the same value system as I do. When that is the case, it is easy to reason out why I am living life the way I do.

But when you are traveling, this assumption of equal value system gets thrown out the door. You meet people who have been traveling for years non-stop; people who have given up on jobs, families, or even the idea of a home; people who I would normally call 'directionless in life'. But these people are happy, and they are really living the life. Especially as a person who espouses the desire to experience new experiences, I can't really fault their point of view. In fact, it is during times like this that I begin to wonder if maybe one day I will end up like them.

I met a person the other day in Nairobi called WH. He had quit his job a year ago and traveled around the world non stop for a year and a half now. He let me read some of his journals, and I was shocked and fascinated to find that we both believe in pretty much the same beliefs when it comes to experiences. He believed that, when it comes down to it, we must take action of our own life instead of just talking about it, which I wholeheartedly agree with. To hear about his experiences around the world was amazing. He even spent time in Taiwan!

After he and his friend left to go climb the 3 big mountains of East Africa, I sat there at the hostel in a semi stupor, just thinking about my own life and where it is heading. Nobody has definitive answers to these types of questions, but traveling tends to clear up my mind as well as confuse me even more at the same time. It is quite a paradox. As he said to me, when you are traveling,  you tend to hit bigger highs, but you also crash into deeper lows too. Along with the physical souvenirs that you buy, you also collect emotional souvenirs as you go.

If life is a roller coaster, then traveling is like an amusement park full of roller coasters (maybe Cedar Point or Six Flags?). During this journey, I have often felt like I am living someone else's life. It really makes you question all that you have taken for granted or dismissed about life. But that is perhaps the most significant and lasting impact that can result from travels. Which is why I will continue to travel for the rest of my life.

Cheers,
FCDH