Recently, on a flight to visit home, I started thinking about what it means to be a traveler. Ever since my first travel experience about five years ago, my life has entirely changed direction – literally. It became apparent to me just how routine traveling or at least going from place to place had become as part of my life. The whole routine of flying had become so ordinary to me. Not too long ago, flying was a huge deal. Yet, now it was just another day.
For many of us, the word travel evokes images of breathtaking views, exhilarating outdoor adventures, exciting places, and memorable moments. When we think of travel, we think of the destination. We see the snapshots of the most “perfect” moments.
We tend to forget about all those other moments. All of the in-between moments. The not-so-perfect moments which make up all the time that got us to our destination. The hours spent in layovers, the never-ending flights, the jet lag. The messy hair, dirty clothes, heavy bags, and grumpy moods. All that time spent in the process in uncomfortable places. The early wake ups and the late nights. The decisions about how to get from point A to point B, all considering safety, affordability, and convenience. Choosing only the necessities and learning how to pack them strategically and maintain some sense of organization while living out of a backpack. These are the things that make up the life of a traveler. It’s not just about those picturesque moments.
As a traveler, I’ve been through my fair share of journeys. I’ve become quite accustomed to airports, airlines, and the routine of flights. I’ve learned which airlines to take, how to pack most strategically, and how to navigate through security as seamlessly as possible. I’ve slept in airports and overnight trains. I’ve taken buses, trains, vans, taxis, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, ferries, boats, and bicycles.
For me, travel isn’t about that final destination. It’s not just about beautiful places and experiences. A big part of it truly is that journey. In the midst of all those in-between moments, we create our whole experience. All those times in limbo – I mean those truly messy moments – that’s where we’re really understanding just what it means to be a traveler.
It’s not comfortable, it’s not simple, it’s not routine. It’s all new to us. Everything is new so we have to figure it out. No matter where it is we’re going there’s undoubtedly a journey involved.
There’s no sort of magic machine that can move us from one place to the next in the exact moment we want. If we want to get to that destination, we need to do something in order to get ourselves there.
Throughout that process of getting us where we need to go, there are a lot of average moments – even unpleasant and scary moments. Moments where we need to really think and consider what the best choices are for ourselves. And there’s also a lot of beautiful moments. The spontaneous simple beauty that happens along the journey is the most one-of-a-kind thing there is.
For me, that process – that journey – is really what makes the whole experience. In that journey, we physically feel our movement. We really FEEL it. I think that’s what made me fall in love with travel in the first place. That movement, that process of going from one place to the next, and figuring out all the steps in between – that’s pretty representative of life itself.
We can’t just look at our life in pictures. Sometimes we want to, we want to look at the pictures and the movies and think that life is really that simple, that easy. We want to remember and keep those perfect untainted moments and memories. But that’s not real. Deep down, we know that it’s not real. We can’t possibly capture it all there. We couldn’t possibly ever capture it all.
A picture may be a thousand words, but it certainly isn’t everything. The good stuff isn’t everything. All that confusion and contemplation and chaos – every moment of uncertainty and fear – that’s all part of the process. Even those truly dark moments where we come close to losing hope, we need that. It’s what’s getting us there. That good stuff couldn’t possibly exist without all of that chaos along the way.
Sometimes it’s challenging or confusing or downright unpleasant. Sometimes we’re just really lost, and sometimes things seem to fit together just right. Somewhere along that path of confusion and disorder, we may just find a little bit of perfect imperfection.
Undoubtedly, we’re going to keep getting a little lost and bewildered along the way. The path we take on our journey is never going to be direct or exact or certain. There’s always going to be risks involved. To simply be alive is a risk. There’s going to be bumpy roads and long waits. Maybe we’re never going to truly get to that final destination. The most important thing we can do is keep moving and enjoy the ride.
Making Mindful 