This evening has been one of those nights when I just spend hours scrolling through Pinterest, looking at travel related posts and building up a longing feeling to travel again (and then getting frustrated that I can't at the moment because of the pandemic and then I develop a feeling where I want to travel even more....). Travel has a special purpose for me - it helps me get through hard times when I know I've got a trip coming up which I can look forward to. The adventure gives me a welcome change to every day life and leaving h0me for a while can give me the headspace I need to work through a few things on my mind. It also allows me to be creative with a little photography. It brings me joy.
When the inspiration for this blogpost hit me a few minutes ago, I immediately thought about the book or film "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book's subtitle is "One Woman's Search For Everything". I can really relate to that comment. I do feel like I travel to find something. Even though I enjoy traveling for the adventure, for the photography and the experience of seeing something new - there is something more for me. I found a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert, which could be the answer. It goes as follows:
Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.
"Happiness", one of those words we all love and hate. Many of us are on an endless search for it. I think travel gives us happiness in a way that it can fulfill us. It can give us a feeling of experiencing something in our lives and having more than just our day to day trod. Travel often leads us to sunshine too, which makes most people smile a little more. Travel can also give us space.
I have used travel for the above and specifically for grief, I used travel to honor my mother and especially do things which she would be proud of me doing. Proud of me for doing something to leap out of my comfort zone and proud of me for doing something which I enjoy. I also travel for myself and to make myself feel better. I do connect traveling with my mother quite strongly as it has been one of the most influential things I have done for myself since she died.
The most meaningful travels so far have been the time I spent in Africa, supporting a local organization and then spending a few more weeks on the continent and also the trip to Kyrgyzstan, where I spent 9 days learning more about photography and getting to know new people and the Kyrgyz culture. Those two trips where also the trips which I did on my own, mostly without friends joining me. The next big and meaningful adventure I am planning is a trip to Australia.
I have always wanted to go to Australia, as my mother lived there with her family when she was a child for 11 years. It's one of those things I feel like I have to do on my mission to discover who she was and what her life was like. Every day that passes, the feeling in me gets stronger and I just know that I have to go on this trip as soon as I can. The plan is to go after I have completed my Bachelor's degree in roughly a year and a half. It just seems like the perfect time to go. Fingers crossed the borders will open again for tourists by then.
This specific trip has grown in importance since I realized how little I really know my mother. I have spoken about this in another blogposts and is a topic I have struggled with throughout the past year. I'm building up more and more ideas on how to get to know her now, 10 years after she died. In a way, its purpose is also for me to discover myself. Keep building on the work I have done for myself to find "Everything".
Travel can be so much more than just going on a fun adventure.
XOXO
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