(Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya via Wikipedia)
If you are bored right now– it does happen– imagine waking up with a giraffe at your front door, or poking it’s head through your dining room window to find a snack? At the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Kenya that is what you could do! From cultural surprises to interaction with wildlife and nature, art and architecture to meeting people who change your life…. travel is not something we should all earmark as “a luxury.”
1. Travel is an awesome time to break bad habits. In fact, vacations are thought to be the most amazing time to break bad habits like quitting cigarettes or biting your nails because the “triggers” in your environment are not present in a new place.
(Santorini, Greece)
2. Immerse yourself in sensory pleasure and learn what you can bring home to your life. I just got the most insane soap hand-milled in Provence from a friend who just returned. Her home is now a rainbow of rich scent from the French countryside. Perhaps you learn the merits of intensely good olive oil in Capri or the reason to have excellent wine with dinner in Bordeaux? There is always another layer to be added to life, and experience brings the richest layers.
(Mullaloo Beach, Western Australia)
3. Develop a new, more artistic take on life. Foreign lands give you fresh perspective. You see things you can’t believe. In Belize many years ago I saw these lizards that looked, most certainly, like small dinosaurs. They were everywhere. My world became prehistoric for an afternoon as they flooded the tennis courts beside our hotel, crowding around the horses ankles as we rode through. I have a collection of these images from years of pretty voracious travelling, but I need to hop on more planes and trains to light up fresh imagery. Plus… I want to shop for fabric, art & other goodies in Morocco, Costa Rica… anon, anon…
4. Obviously: learn about the world. Foreign languages exercise your mind. Foreign foods stimulate your palette in fresh ways. Meeting people from all over the world is humbling, inspiring and life-stretching. History, mythology, holidays, ceremonies… I’m betting that there are thousands of things you don’t know about the country you live in now… so imagine all you have to learn about the world!
5. Get “present” again. Very simple: when you travel, you are in strange places. The unfamiliar makes us more present, more aware, as we have to stay on our toes to “survive.” It may seem that days are much longer because you are actually showing up for them.
6. And… you get to invest in adventure. Adventurous spirits take more risks, live more fulfilling lives, are more willing to be vulnerable and tend to make more of their dreams come true. So, adventure is not a luxury… it is life exercise!
Can’t afford it to take a trip? If you start saving even a tiny bit as often as you can, you will have a piggyback for adventure before you know it.
Can’t take the time? Well, if you want to, you definitely will! Intention has a way of sorting out time issues much more easily that rational thinking alone can sort ’em out!
xoxo Dana
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If I could, all I would do is travel. I spent six weeks in Morocco during college and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world.