Why I Love to Travel

I love traveling. 

I think it is because traveling gives us permission to explore.  It gives us permission to ask questions. How often do we get to live in child-like wonder of the world?  Where you can ask questions to strangers? The fun of travel is that we all live in the world of curiosity.  

Traveling makes learning fun again. We learn so much about history, geography and different cultures.  All the things we didn’t like in school come to life in full color.  It fills us up inside.

While traveling we get to exploring just to explore.  Eat because we are hungry, not because it is time to eat.  Walk to get places and not because it is exercise. 

Traveling gives us an excuse to sleep because our body needs to sleep.  We sleep in, or take a nap in the afternoon.  We get up when we are rested, not when an alarm goes off.  Or conversely, we stay up late because we are having fun and not because we needed to finish a project at work.

Life is different when we travel.  Time feels different when we travel.  

I’m sure a part of this is simply because we don’t have the same responsibilities when we are on vacation.  We don’t have to worry about work. (At least, we shouldn’t have to worry about work.)  We aren’t concerned about the laundry, the grocery shopping, shoveling the sidewalk or mowing the lawn depending on the season.

While traveling, we are present in our lives.  Our mind, body and spirit are all connecting in one place.  We are tasting our food.  We are smelling the ocean.  We are talking with our traveling companions.  We hold real conversations about our lives with the important people in our lives.  We are present while we are walking down a sidewalk in a new city, taking in the murals on the walls. 

I heard this phrase at a conference I recently attended and it fits here, “Be where your feet are.”  While traveling, we are fully where are feet are planted.  They could be planted on a sidewalk or in the sand.  Either way, we are present in our bodies.

It is with that thought, of being where our feet are that I will leave you.  Today, while you adventure through your life, remember that each day is yours to explore.  You don’t need to travel to live your life with curiosity.  

You don’t have to travel to be where your feet are.  You just need to bring your mind back to where you physically are.  Take a big breath, relax, bring the I’m on vacation feeling to your body and be present.  Taste your food, notice the art on the buildings, and hold real conversations with the people you love.  

Life is the adventure, it’s yours to explore.

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