Why We Travel?
“Why do we travel?” This question made my head whirl for my answers were innumerable yet I only wanted to highlight the most important ones. So many possibilities! Some people travel to look for love, some people travel to mend a broken heart, and yet some people travel for work. I got to admit that one of my friends confessed to me that she travels so that she can take selfies internationally! How hilarious is that? Could that be an adequate reason to travel? However, if you look at her point further, perhaps the reason for her taking selfies is because of the validation of her own existence. To know within herself that she is living a wonderful life. For me, it’s all about what makes you content and happy. You travel to feel something positive. You travel to feel alive. I can just feel the adrenaline rush passing through my veins when I remember or plan my next travels! Traveling is the voyage of the heart. It is a time for new experiences, new sensations, and new passages.
We travel to find our identity. We travel to hear our inner selves. We travel to know and feel our desires. Whenever I feel confused about myself, I would go out for a walk. I usually go for short walks whether it be on the street, in our garden, or just pack my bags towards nowhere. Traveling helps me calm down and get my thoughts in order. I would not even think of the thing that was troubling me, it just seems to go away as it becomes insignificant as I appreciate the sunset, the scent of flowers, the laughter of children playing nearby, and the endless patterns of life.
Traveling makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger. After absorbing the entirety of the place, I would smile and decide to go home. I also like going up high buildings just to look at the city lights and all the action from above. For some reason, this ritual reminds me of who I was before and what I want to become. As Pico Iyer said, “Travel spins us round in two ways at once: It shows us the sights and values and issues that we might ordinarily ignore; but it also, and more deeply, shows us all the parts of ourselves that might otherwise grow rusty. For in traveling to a truly foreign place, we inevitably travel to moods and states of mind and hidden inward passages that we’d otherwise seldom have cause to visit.” Whenever I have to decide about something big in my life, I love going somewhere to ponder about all the choices and possibilities. Traveling helps me reflect and meditate in some way. It helps me hear my inner voice, that silent thump of what my heart really yearns for.
We travel to feel that we are connected. This sensation, once experienced, is such a beautiful blessing! We travel to find our connection to the world, to the things that are out there. I love going mountain climbing. I would do it anywhere and anytime. I love smelling the musky scent of the soil, I love the feeling of the wind as it caresses my cheeks while I climb, and I love hearing my own echo once I reach the top. It makes me feel young like everything I have ever been through is sufficient for the exchange of feeling this way. Traveling makes people feel something new. Better yet, it makes people feel brand new. It is just like a baptism of our inner souls. Traveling makes us feel connected to new cultures, new people, and new sensations. I have met so many friends from many diverse countries and each and every one of them taught me new ideas, concepts, and beliefs that made me acknowledge the varying beauty of humanity.
We travel to learn something new. We travel to see something different. We travel and we get to see things in a new light or a better perspective. My mentor once told me: “Do travel, Asha! Every place is a new feeling! Every country you get a new perspective on life!” He recounted to me, his travels and how this changes his way of seeing things, understanding cultures, and being at ease with himself even when he is in unknown places. He would keep a journal and in each country, he noticed that his perspectives change in each place! He was learning and he was happy to soak in all the new and wonderful things that he encountered. This made me realize that as you travel, you learn a lot about other people, other places, and most importantly, you learn a lot about the other side of yourself. Ever since I always reminded myself to go somewhere.
I love traveling to nature places because it teaches me how to be simple again, it teaches me that everything can be so wonderful yet so priceless. It gives me the recognition of one’s own spirituality and well-being over the material world. Traveling makes me see this. It gives me the idea that being uncomplicated can guarantee more happiness and peace. Whenever I travel, I see sceneries that I have once overlooked and this makes me feel like I have a new set of eyes! The sunset’s unique and ever-changing hue, the winding colored banners, or the leaves rustling from above while the birds flew. Every time I travel, I get to have sensations that I have yet to feel, I learn insights that I have yet to apply, and I get the sense of celebrating life and my very existence. Traveling helps me navigate to the place where I need to be the most. My wandering soul goes back to where it rightfully belongs, towards my calmer and happier self. Traveling helps me metamorphose myself into someone that I want to be.
9/27/2016
