After just returning from a trip & experiencing the traveller's high and some of the post-travel low, I wonder - why do I enjoy travelling so much? And yes I look forward to my next trip, but is there a way to experience some part of the traveller's joy in my daily life?
As a traveller, even the cold weather is enjoyable, as it is a fresh and different experience.
Train delays are enjoyable, as we get to see the variety of people gathered, and yet we don't share their same sense of urgency to get to where we are going to.
Even if sometimes, the food at a restaurant is so-so, it is still a unique experience due to the type of food, the ambience, the company etc.
The joys are felt much more deeply and keenly, and we keep those memories for a lifetime...
Difficulties we experience become stories to share with friends...
Mistakes we make become lessons for our future travels, and for our friends...
Every person we encounter is precious, and we remember the good in them, because the time we spend with them is limited...
Every day of our travel is precious, and we seek to maximise our experience of each day, in whatever way we see fit...
What gives us this rich experience? For me I get two reasons - one, I am away from my home, in a new place. That puts me out of my usual routines and thinking patterns.
Two, my time in this new place is limited, and I will return home once I'm done. This makes my experiences temporary, and so I focus on the positives much more.
But reflecting further - am I not also a traveller in this place I call home?
We do not know where we come from, we do not know where we return to. At least for now.
But we know that our time is limited - doesn't that make us all travellers?
We stay in a certain place occupying ourselves with our jobs and daily life for some years, before changing that part by part over time.
And perhaps some of the people we travel with now, have accompanied us in our past travels, and may accompany us in our future travels...
Every person we meet, becomes a traveller with whom we share experiences and learn lessons from. Every place we stay at, becomes a temporary abode that we try to make ourselves comfortable at, knowing we will leave.
Every experience we get, bitter and sweet, leaves behind its lessons and enrichment.
The comforts and discomforts we have, are temporary...
The ease and difficulties we face, are temporary...
The desires and fears we feel, are temporary...
Today is a new day. A fresh new day in this part of our travel - let us then get as much as we can in this additional day of our travel, wherever we may be.
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