What travelling can do for you (and good books to read along the way)
We've been on the road for about 2 months now so I thought I'd stop and reflect on what made us start travelling in the first place.
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| Being on the open road (Marble Mountains, Da Nang) |
When you stop and think about it travelling is a bit odd – you leave behind family, stuff you’ve worked for and the comfort of your home to go to an unfamiliar place where you don’t understand the language and you deliberate over every piece of food you put in your mouth. But believe it or not travelling isn’t a revolutionary thing – if no one did it then most of the world wouldn’t know each other, and worst of all we’d probably have really bad coffee.
For me I see it as a means of educating and enriching myself in my own way. Learning that's not taught in some classroom, or read on the news, but mine.
Other things like having the opportunity to travel was a major reason too. We are nearly 30, which is the cut off age to obtain a working holiday visa for New Zealand, so being 29 we thought well, why the hell wouldn't we?!
We saved up for about a year, booked a one way ticket to Bangkok and went for it. So far, so good.
As a gay woman, it feels even more of an experience in a way because you know you’re a minority in a world where it’s not totally excepted yet. So you live in a protective bubble and fear how others will react to how you chose to live your life. This has always baffled me as to why this choice would affect anyone but me, so I figured travelling might help me understand it. Also the view of women - that baffles me even more!
I’m not saying that everyone should up and leave their life and hit the road like some Levison Wood feminist backpacker, but sometimes it's good to take your eyes of the screens that dictate our lives now and then in order to see the world for what it really is. Travelling is a way of doing that.
The first few months were great, they parked where ever they wanted and were totally free to do as they pleased. But gradually the cracks started to appear. It was getting too much to keep moving and the dog was getting sick, because of the constant moving and changing weather. They started to ask themselves: what is happiness if this isn’t it? And why are we doing this again?
If you just run off and throw everything to the wind, you're going to feel a bit lost eventually. I think the pursuit of happiness is knowing what you want and working toward it.
Travelling can be spontaneous, but a plan to work towards is what drives us. For example, I know that we have 3 months to do Southeast Asia until we plan is to work in New Zealand for 1 or 2 years. We both know that’s what we want and that’s what motivates me on days when travelling sucks a little, because it gives it all context in the long run.
After all, life is a story to tell people, right? And how are stories structured? With a beginning, middle and an end - with the added bit of drama, love and silly drunken behaviour.
Little habits like checking emails constantly (especially if you're like me and you had your work and personal email in one), travelling to work, checking LinkedIn (I don't really know why I do this), your daily routines - all of this you don't have to do anymore.
All you have now is a backpack of clothes, your passport and your life-savings, and most importantly of all: YOUR TIME BACK.
We all need a break from the 'so-called certainties' of life sometimes. It's not going to damage your CV or hinder your career if you take time out either. If anything it's going to make you more appealing. But remember, this about YOU and not some future employer anyway. For me, it's been a really great adventure so far and I don't regret a thing about my choice to do it.
For me I see it as a means of educating and enriching myself in my own way. Learning that's not taught in some classroom, or read on the news, but mine.
Why we decided to travel
For us (my partner and I) deciding to travel wasn't based on one reason as such, it was more of a collection of things and a shared understanding of what we wanted in this time of our lives. We felt we had worked enough in our chosen careers that it put us in good stead for the future, meaning, if we decided to go back to it, we could. We also wanted to experience different places and cultures before we settled anywhere.Other things like having the opportunity to travel was a major reason too. We are nearly 30, which is the cut off age to obtain a working holiday visa for New Zealand, so being 29 we thought well, why the hell wouldn't we?!
We saved up for about a year, booked a one way ticket to Bangkok and went for it. So far, so good.
Travelling can help shape new opinions
Sure there’s been times already in Southeast Asia where I’ve felt a bit uncomfortable. Where maybe I’ve been treated differently because of where I’m from, my gender, or how I've seen animals being treated. But that’s exactly what travelling does, it exposes you to a different way of life that you might agree or disagree with. By experiencing it yourself, you can shape your own opinions about the world we live in that isn’t influenced by other means.As a gay woman, it feels even more of an experience in a way because you know you’re a minority in a world where it’s not totally excepted yet. So you live in a protective bubble and fear how others will react to how you chose to live your life. This has always baffled me as to why this choice would affect anyone but me, so I figured travelling might help me understand it. Also the view of women - that baffles me even more!
I’m not saying that everyone should up and leave their life and hit the road like some Levison Wood feminist backpacker, but sometimes it's good to take your eyes of the screens that dictate our lives now and then in order to see the world for what it really is. Travelling is a way of doing that.
Can travelling bring happiness?
We recently watched a Netflix documentary called 'Expedition Happiness' that followed a couple and their dog as they travelled the breath of Canada, America and part of Mexico. They built a home from a school bus that allowed them to be self-sufficient and to travel freely. The reason they decided to do it was because they hit a wall in their life in Berlin and wanted to find 'happiness'. The guy had his own company back in Germany and the girl was a singer songwriter - on the face of it, they had it all.The first few months were great, they parked where ever they wanted and were totally free to do as they pleased. But gradually the cracks started to appear. It was getting too much to keep moving and the dog was getting sick, because of the constant moving and changing weather. They started to ask themselves: what is happiness if this isn’t it? And why are we doing this again?
If you just run off and throw everything to the wind, you're going to feel a bit lost eventually. I think the pursuit of happiness is knowing what you want and working toward it.
What’s best in life?
I was listening to the Travel Stories podcast recently, and Hayden was talking about ‘What’s Best in Life?', which is a bit of broad question but he boiled it down to having 'projects' that you work towards.Travelling can be spontaneous, but a plan to work towards is what drives us. For example, I know that we have 3 months to do Southeast Asia until we plan is to work in New Zealand for 1 or 2 years. We both know that’s what we want and that’s what motivates me on days when travelling sucks a little, because it gives it all context in the long run.
After all, life is a story to tell people, right? And how are stories structured? With a beginning, middle and an end - with the added bit of drama, love and silly drunken behaviour.
"The first step of vagabonding is to simply make work serve your interests, instead of the other way round."
Rolf Potts, Vagabonding: An uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel
Having your time back
Since leaving London and quitting my job to pursue a life of travelling the habits of my 9-5 lifestyle have surfaced and I've had to fill in that time with other stuff.Little habits like checking emails constantly (especially if you're like me and you had your work and personal email in one), travelling to work, checking LinkedIn (I don't really know why I do this), your daily routines - all of this you don't have to do anymore.
All you have now is a backpack of clothes, your passport and your life-savings, and most importantly of all: YOUR TIME BACK.
We all need a break from the 'so-called certainties' of life sometimes. It's not going to damage your CV or hinder your career if you take time out either. If anything it's going to make you more appealing. But remember, this about YOU and not some future employer anyway. For me, it's been a really great adventure so far and I don't regret a thing about my choice to do it.
"Vagabonding is about gaining the courage to loosen your grip on the so-called certainties of this world."
Rolf Potts, Vagabonding: An uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel
Good books to read whilst on the road:
- Rolf Potts: Vagabonding: An uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel - you'll keep going back to this book again and again for tips and general life advice.
- Yuval Noah Harari: Homo Deus, a brief history of tomorrow and Sapiens - these books are rather deep in terms of what they're about, but it offers an interesting perspective on the progression of humankind. It's also rather worrying in parts.
- Raoul Martinez: Creating Freedom, power, control and the fight for our future - this book really got me thinking about the world we live in and what society upholds us to do, think and say. Are we really even free?
- E.H Gombrich: A little history of the world - this book actually changed my life a little, it taught me things about the world I probably should have known or I'd forgotten.
If you've got any good suggestions for books to read whilst on the road, then let me know!
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