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Lockdown, travel restrictions, limited radius for movement; The all-new living conditions of the last few months had and still have an impact on one of my greatest passions: traveling. Reason enough to deal with why it’s a well of life to me - and what conclusions I have drawn for myself from the current situation.
01 | Diversity of life
It is possible that my desire to have a peek into other people’s living rooms, which I expressed very early on, is in cahoots with my wanderlust. I've always wanted to know how other people live. What it is that exists outside of your own four walls. And thus, also outside of your own four brain walls. How does life work elsewhere? Under different conditions, with different values, in different places? My curiosity regarding this is a long-running and insatiable thirst for knowledge. During my travels of the last few years, the knowledge I gained here have been tremendously great gifts. To discover the diversity of life, above all to even experience it for yourself. Immersing yourself in completely different worlds.
To me, this is the cradle to all of us understanding each other better on both a small and a large scale. Perceiving each other more respectfully because we see: there is not just our truth, our model. There is so much more out there.
02 | Boost of creativity
Thinking outside the box is one of my personal favorites when it comes to gaining fresh creativity and coming to unconventional solutions. True innovation grows where we really think outside the box. Really rethink. It is much easier for me to do this while experiencing other cultures and countries, because it inspires me to see what and how people live elsewhere. And of course, the other way round, it’s important to be aware how green the grass actually is on your own side of the fence, which we can become blind to when we see it every day.
03 | Wonder of waiting
Many complain about it and for me as the personified impatience, they are always a test: the waiting phases of travel. At the airport, at the train station, in front of borders or ferry crossings. This space arising from time, in-between-spaces in the truest sense of the word, also slow me down and regulate my inner Speedy Gonzales - because unlike in everyday life, where I often find waiting to be an annoying time-wasting process, I know here that the space is part of traveling. Free time. Time in which the best ideas come to me incredibly often, because the brain unconditionally switches to idle mode. Nothing must and nothing needs to, and nothing is in focus. Because your sight blurs into the wide nothing, at best through milky windows towards the runway. Ideas need such idle periods. And traveling gives me those.
04 | The magic of presence
When I travel, it is particularly easy for me to be present in this very moment. To submerge completely. I don't even know whether I am falling out of space and time or particularly deep into it. In either case, everything that could distract me at home in terms of activity fades into the background as if at the push of a button. Really being in the moment – it’s always a great experience, always a gift. And yes, of course, this is a lifestyle that is also desirable for everyday life. Nonetheless, I enjoy that it comes at ease when I travel. Without any effort.
05 | Factor: adrenaline
For me, traveling is a risk as well as an adventure. On the one hand, because I love, search for, and do crazy and daring trips; on the other hand, because that is due to the specificity of my body. Because of course I need my very own prerequisites for some travels or destinations. As someone with a busy nature who loves to be in motion, to search and to discover, traveling is the perfect adrenaline stimulator for me. And thus, a development engine. There is thrill, tingling joy, excitement, and the desire for the unknown. Nothing brings me so urgently and consistently to the famous edge of my comfort zone and beyond. Traveling expands me, makes me more relaxed; it dilates the pupils and the mind and the heart. Those who dare develop further. Best cocktail ever.
What about the future?
The last few months have shown me the immense importance traveling has in my life. I realized how painful I would find permanent renunciation. At the same time, dealing with all this also brought out the value which travel really has for me. That travel, like everything we do, shouldn't serve to distract oneself, to zoom out or to want to eat french fries all over the planet. Let's rather look at of which quality our trips will be in the future. Why we travel. Does it make us grow? Does it keep us going and make us feel alive? Does it deepen our sense of the world? Does it open our view? Or do we suck out the land and people. Do we just change the scenery? Which longing drives us? And where do we find our answers?
If I were never allowed to travel again, it would clearly be a challenge to find out where and how I could live the values that I have described above for myself. And yes, I would continue to live my best life with my favorite question “how else does it work?” I'm sure of that. I am grateful for the breaks. The food for thought.
My hope relies on the fact that we will be able to move towards and together again. With all our senses and above all: meaningfulness.
What does future travel look like for you? I'm curious!
