6 Lessons I've Learned So Far Traveling

Traveling lesson number 1: There is no point of arrival. Even when you get to where you are going, you stand there and say, “now where to?” There is no point when you say, “I’ve made it.” You just continue to go on. There’s no place that you stop and say, “okay. I’m good. I’m done.” It doesn’t exist.

When we get to where we think we’re going, we realize that’s only the first part of a journey towards somewhere else. When taken all together, we realize that it’s all a succession of events that are really going towards nowhere in particular.

This is freedom! This means that we don’t really have to do anything, go anywhere, be anything. We just are. And we are just going.

When you travel, you can see this so much more clearly, at least I can, because the journey takes on a faster form. When you live in a house, and work somewhere in a town you live, and live there for several years, it all looks a lot slower, but in reality the process is the same. Eventually you die. But even that is just a continuation of this journey.

The belief in a point of arrival is actually mentally damaging, because it creates a false expectation of a reality that doesn’t exist. It creates an expectation for certain gratifications, but think about it – would you really want to get to a point where you are not ever going to move forward again?

It’s about the journey, not the destination. You’re never going to “get there” and stop moving. The journey continues. Once you accept that, you can take the journey joyfully, gracefully, self-lovingly, and appreciate every part, because you know that it never truly ends.

Traveling lesson number 2: The same stimuli can be interpreted as negative, positive or neutral. I find myself to feel the healthiest and best when I can interpret life as neutral. It seems that when things are neutral, everything is good. In both positivity and negativity, a certain tension is created. Positive tension can be delicious, but it can also be easy to overdose. In neutrality, there is ease, peace, calm. Intensity and chill are both necessary for a full, rich life, and it’s important to be aware of when we need what.

Traveling lesson number 3: You have more endurance than you think. When I first got to Kona, the sun was hot and my backpack was heavy. I was tired, hungry, thirsty and achey. I felt helpless and just complained and complained. Then, I did something different. I realized that I was making myself feel this way and no one was going to save me. I pulled all my energy back into my core, I got up, and I charged ahead with my heavy backpack with a feeling of supreme pride in myself.

Traveling lesson number 4: You don’t have to believe everyone or take everyone’s advice. In fact, most of the time their advice is going to be based off their own experience, and therefore most likely unhelpful to you because we all attract different things because we are all different people, and what has occurred in the past is not necessarily what will occur in the future.  Also, what you focus on, you attract, because energy flows where attention goes. That’s why when you worry you often attract bad situations. So you really don’t have to believe anybody or take their advice, but you can just simply listen, let it go through you, and maybe transmute it for somebody else so that they can be a little less afraid and a little more courageous. Having healthy boundaries, knowing what is true for you and what’s somebody else’s truth they are presenting, is essential for a healthy life.

Travelling lesson number 5: It’s okay not to freak out all the time. This is something I think some people understood a little earlier, but for me, this was pretty huge. You're either evolving or you're devolving. If you're filled with cortisol from stress, you're just going in circles in a downward spiral. I realized that there's no requirement to freak out. That I can, in fact, just be a person and be okay and be here and all that jazz. And that's it's easier than I thought, and better than I thought, too. Thank Goddess. 

Travelling lesson number 6: It’s okay to be naked, and it’s okay to enjoy. We’ve been taught all our lives that we need to deny ourselves enjoyment and happiness to be successful and…happy? HAHAHA.

& we’ve been taught that we have to be modest, hide our bodies and hide our souls from those around us so that we can be judged as “good” people. Being naked is how we arrive in this world. Being naked is possibly the most natural thing we can ever be. Naked in body, naked in soul = freedom.

It’s totally okay to let ourselves be open to receiving joy, pleasure, happiness, fulfillment…from the simplest, smallest things! We don’t have to wait for life to “get good” for it to be good! Life is good!

It’s a lesson that only be learned from experience, I think. I don’t think we can “make” ourselves understand something, and I don’t think that’s a good idea. We can’t skip steps in our journey. Even if other people understand something about life that they attempt to pass onto us, as I’m doing, I guess – we still can’t fully get it until we “get” it for ourselves.

That’s the beauty of life, though. That we all have our own journeys and that no two journeys are alike. Each life is completely unique, and I think this is something we need to respect universally…something our world could use more of across the board.