Countless people have commented on how envious they are that
I can travel like I do. And while I
acknowledge the fact that I am blessed to have the means and flexibility to
jet-set to so many places, it is impossible to get people that have not
traveled for long periods of time to understand the difference between
traveling and vacationing. Traveling for
months at a time is completely different than vacationing for a few weeks in a
place. When you ‘travel’, it becomes a
lifestyle. You have good days and bad
days; you have logistics days, and adventure days, and break days, and tourist
days. You can’t explain to others why merely
being in a so-called ‘top’ location isn’t the enjoyment of traveling.
I sometimes feel guilty when I am in one of these classic
tourist locations and find myself thinking ‘I have seen better’. I contemplate ‘why do I continue to travel
and spend this money if I am not being excited by where I am at’. But then it happens. I meet the right person; or I fall upon the
right place at the right time. It is usually not in a guide book. It isn’t an
attraction that everyone gets to experience.
It is what I think of when I hear the statement ‘it is the journey, not
the destination’. I fear too few people truly understand this statement.
Just when I am struggling with the trials and tribulations
of ‘traveling’, which trust me, do exist; I am saved. I find myself dancing in a street parade in
Puno, watching the most amazing simultaneous sunset and moon rising in Bolivia,
trekking with a new-found friend from some corner of the world, or experiencing
the jovial, random folkloric music of a Peña in Argentina. Sometimes it is an inner peace that soothes your soul of the daily stresses, sometimes it is an energy that fills you from your most bored depths, and sometimes it is just the right type of distraction when you are feeling rather pathetic.
This is what ‘traveling’ is!
Vacations are great for taking a break from reality. Traveling is to experience new realities. But as with all reality, the 'real' part is not always glamorous and exciting. Maybe the search is just to find the right reality that provides more happiness and excitement than it does boredom and stress. When you find it, envy of other realities stops.
