"It is better to travel well than to arrive." -- Buddha
What is the purpose of traveling if not to experience and learn knew things? We can find fun and thrills anywhere, but worldly wisdom is illusive without exploring.
Travel offers perhaps the most profound of life's lessons. Although much can be learned by reading books or discussing topics, true wisdom is only gained by confirming or discrediting intellectual knowledge through experiences.
As we make our way slowly around the globe, we feel more in tune with these lessons because new experiences almost seem to force reflection.
For instance, who would have known that you should never leave the house in Asia without a roll of toilet paper, especially when traveling with kids? Okay, it may be not so profound but it's an immediate lesson learned nonetheless.
Yes, the lessons do go much deeper than toilet paper. There are fantastically unique cultural, geographical, economic, spiritual, and social lessons that can only be learned by launching yourself into foreign environments. But perhaps the most important are the personal lessons and intangible qualities that we learn along this path.
I suppose personal growth is the only thing each of us is truly in control over in our lives. Many of us may struggle for years or even a lifetime trying to control all the circumstances and people around us, which seems to only lead to frustration.
Instead, travel teaches each of us to temper our expectations and to embrace new experiences and challenges. If a traveler fails to do this, the road will chew them up and spit them out very quickly. Whereas, most people in a stationary life can usually go many years rigidly refusing to live outside their expectations and insulating themselves from new challenges.
But, inevitably, challenges arise in life no matter how well we attempt to schedule our lives. This is why learning to cope and adapt to changes is so important.
There is a basic philosophy we've learned from traveling that applies to life in general as well: Plan for the worst, hope for the best, never fear the unknown, and appreciate the ride.
Planning for the worst doesn't mean fearing the worst. It simply means taking precautions against foreseeable challenges. This applies to any situation in life, but the consequences are much more acute when traveling in foreign lands where the unexpected is more likely to occur, and without your normal support group or the comfort of familiarity.
For example, for women traveling to Egypt knowing that the men there have a reputation for harassing foreign women should not scare you into not seeing the Great Pyramids. That pre-knowledge just presents the opportunity to plan a proper wardrobe, group travel, and how to deal with potential harassment.
Likewise, hoping for the best is not blowing your expectations out of proportion. Rather it is more about defining what you want to happen during your visit. If you don't have a vision for what you want to happen on a journey or in everyday life, it's unlikely that you'll get it. In other words, how do you expect to get what you want when you can't define it?
Embracing the unknown is perhaps the most important lesson from traveling. Fear of the unknown is a natural human instinct that in some cases may be an essential defense mechanism. Yet, since life and death situations are far less prevalent in modern times than when our ancestors roamed the earth with saber toothed tigers, fear of the unknown is usually imaginary. This fear effectively keeps us in a small box of perception, thus limiting our overall experience.
Travel forces us to embrace and anticipate unknowns with excitement. We've been told by many of suburban friends how brave we are for the life we lead where the unexpected is, well, expected. However, we've never felt or feel brave because fear never really enters the equation. We just chart our course with excitement (and some research) and pursue it. Besides, after the unknowns are conquered, it's very apparent that there was never anything to fear to begin with. So there's not much point in dwelling on the perceived fears.
Finally, in our opinion, appreciating the ride is most vital to enjoying life. Being reminded of how grateful we are for big and small things is a gift that extended travel has given us. Too often we took things for granted when living a regimented, redundant lifestyle. But, now, because we frequently change our scenery and environment, it demands that we compare and contrast every aspect of our journey.
While traveling we find appreciation in small things like finding a good pizza or a clean bathroom, things we would just expect in a familiar setting. These constant small reminders contribute to our overall gratitude about the lifestyle we've chosen.
Traveling also forces us to evaluate our setbacks and mistakes much quicker than when we're stationary. By pure necessity, many times we must identify the lessons inherent in our mistakes right away to prevent them from happening at the next location. Because of this, we find ourselves grateful even for the set backs. It's odd, I know, but it's amazing how this gratitude ends up being our best weapon against fear of the unknown.
Although traveling has taught us many useful things about the world and ourselves, nothing has been more valuable to us than our seemingly natural ability to embrace the unknown. We're convinced that this treasure from travel will allow us to excel in all possible adventures of life, whether we eventually settle down into a community or keep traveling the globe.
Curious what other traveling families learn on the road?? Click the links below!
Flashpacker Family - Lessons from the road of life
Family on Bikes- Complaining won't change a gosh-darn thing
Our Travel Lifestyle - Travel: Teaching us about ourselves
The Nomadic Family- I Know Nothing (and 99 Other Things The Road Has Taught Me)
Pearce On Earth- 5 Life Lessons Learned from Traveling
Life Changing Year- Life Lessons From The Road - A Little Bit Of Planning Goes A Loooong Way!
A King's Life- Two things I know for sure
Family Travel Bucket List- 3 Things We've Learned While Living Outside of the USA
Ramble Crunch- 15 lessons I've learned traveling the world
Any Road- Lessons from the Journey
Living Outside of the Box- 6 Life Lessons from the Road
Travel With Bender- So it's been 6 months
What is the purpose of traveling if not to experience and learn knew things? We can find fun and thrills anywhere, but worldly wisdom is illusive without exploring.
Travel offers perhaps the most profound of life's lessons. Although much can be learned by reading books or discussing topics, true wisdom is only gained by confirming or discrediting intellectual knowledge through experiences.
As we make our way slowly around the globe, we feel more in tune with these lessons because new experiences almost seem to force reflection.
 |
| Embrace The Unknown! |
Yes, the lessons do go much deeper than toilet paper. There are fantastically unique cultural, geographical, economic, spiritual, and social lessons that can only be learned by launching yourself into foreign environments. But perhaps the most important are the personal lessons and intangible qualities that we learn along this path.
I suppose personal growth is the only thing each of us is truly in control over in our lives. Many of us may struggle for years or even a lifetime trying to control all the circumstances and people around us, which seems to only lead to frustration.
Instead, travel teaches each of us to temper our expectations and to embrace new experiences and challenges. If a traveler fails to do this, the road will chew them up and spit them out very quickly. Whereas, most people in a stationary life can usually go many years rigidly refusing to live outside their expectations and insulating themselves from new challenges.
But, inevitably, challenges arise in life no matter how well we attempt to schedule our lives. This is why learning to cope and adapt to changes is so important.
There is a basic philosophy we've learned from traveling that applies to life in general as well: Plan for the worst, hope for the best, never fear the unknown, and appreciate the ride.
 |
| Preparation can be vital to improvng any given situation! |
For example, for women traveling to Egypt knowing that the men there have a reputation for harassing foreign women should not scare you into not seeing the Great Pyramids. That pre-knowledge just presents the opportunity to plan a proper wardrobe, group travel, and how to deal with potential harassment.
Likewise, hoping for the best is not blowing your expectations out of proportion. Rather it is more about defining what you want to happen during your visit. If you don't have a vision for what you want to happen on a journey or in everyday life, it's unlikely that you'll get it. In other words, how do you expect to get what you want when you can't define it?
Embracing the unknown is perhaps the most important lesson from traveling. Fear of the unknown is a natural human instinct that in some cases may be an essential defense mechanism. Yet, since life and death situations are far less prevalent in modern times than when our ancestors roamed the earth with saber toothed tigers, fear of the unknown is usually imaginary. This fear effectively keeps us in a small box of perception, thus limiting our overall experience.
Travel forces us to embrace and anticipate unknowns with excitement. We've been told by many of suburban friends how brave we are for the life we lead where the unexpected is, well, expected. However, we've never felt or feel brave because fear never really enters the equation. We just chart our course with excitement (and some research) and pursue it. Besides, after the unknowns are conquered, it's very apparent that there was never anything to fear to begin with. So there's not much point in dwelling on the perceived fears.
Finally, in our opinion, appreciating the ride is most vital to enjoying life. Being reminded of how grateful we are for big and small things is a gift that extended travel has given us. Too often we took things for granted when living a regimented, redundant lifestyle. But, now, because we frequently change our scenery and environment, it demands that we compare and contrast every aspect of our journey.
 |
| Enjoy the little things |
Traveling also forces us to evaluate our setbacks and mistakes much quicker than when we're stationary. By pure necessity, many times we must identify the lessons inherent in our mistakes right away to prevent them from happening at the next location. Because of this, we find ourselves grateful even for the set backs. It's odd, I know, but it's amazing how this gratitude ends up being our best weapon against fear of the unknown.
Although traveling has taught us many useful things about the world and ourselves, nothing has been more valuable to us than our seemingly natural ability to embrace the unknown. We're convinced that this treasure from travel will allow us to excel in all possible adventures of life, whether we eventually settle down into a community or keep traveling the globe.
Curious what other traveling families learn on the road?? Click the links below!
Flashpacker Family - Lessons from the road of life
Family on Bikes- Complaining won't change a gosh-darn thing
Our Travel Lifestyle - Travel: Teaching us about ourselves
The Nomadic Family- I Know Nothing (and 99 Other Things The Road Has Taught Me)
Pearce On Earth- 5 Life Lessons Learned from Traveling
Life Changing Year- Life Lessons From The Road - A Little Bit Of Planning Goes A Loooong Way!
A King's Life- Two things I know for sure
Family Travel Bucket List- 3 Things We've Learned While Living Outside of the USA
Ramble Crunch- 15 lessons I've learned traveling the world
Any Road- Lessons from the Journey
Living Outside of the Box- 6 Life Lessons from the Road
Travel With Bender- So it's been 6 months
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