It has been a hard time the last week trying to find inspiration for a blog and to even speak about traveling again. I have said multiple times that I see travel as an important part of life, but when a life ends….it’s hard to write about fun again.
My uncle JP died suddenly on Wednesday night and tomorrow night we will be remembering him in a Celebration of his life. Or more appropriately… a party. His memory has also been recorded in an article in the paper today.
Hopefully I will be back soon, but it’s going to take some time. Here is my latest travel column: ‘Why travel is important’ in The Royal Gazette today.
“What drives us to jet off to a foreign country where we know not a soul and can’t begin to speak the language?” – Jim Benning, ‘Thailand Dreaming’, Tales from Nowhere.
Jim’s answer: something as simple as a photo or a music lyric.
What prompted my travelling (if you don’t know I just finished a year travelling around the world)? I honestly don’t know. It has never been something I questioned and it has never been something I’ve seen as frivolous.
I’m not alone. In scientific studies they have found that new experiences not new things (did you catch that? Yep NOT new THINGS!) make people happier. That’s kind of a no-brainer.
We use terms like buyer’s remorse when purchasing “big ticket” items. What type of negative terms do you have for travelling? Traveller’s diarrhoea? And even that’s not that bad … I’ve lived to tell the tale.
In any case for the last year I have been adamantly working on the new experiences and not new things. There really was very little I could fit in the backpack. But travel doesn’t have to be about just getting away from our 21-square-mile rock.
Author Rolf Potts would be one of the first one to speak on this. His book, ‘Vagabonding’, encourages people to find themselves “rich in time” – not things. Now I know I spoke about budgets a couple of weeks ago and was energetic about cutting back on your miscellaneous spending, but Rolf brings a new chapter to this question of travel: travel as a mindset not a destination.
Rather than always worrying about getting away why not focus on what you have now? Not everyone can afford to escape our Island when they want to so why not discover things that are “new” in your backyard?
When was the last time you went to Paget Marsh? What about visiting that restaurant/cafe you keep driving by and have never gone in? Take a camera with you when you next walk the railway trail. How can you get a different angle on our Bermuda rocks?
That’s what I am challenging myself to do. Last week I ran into a friend at a coffee shop and she clearly described what I am going through: “Now Robyn you’ll have to see home like you did the places you travelled,” she said. And she’s right.
So is Rolf Potts. It’s not just about getting ‘off the rock’ but about bringing yourself out of the rut. It’s very easy on this Island to continue traipsing to the same places (well there are few) and to visit similar lands when escaping our 21-square-miles.
I am a lucky person in many ways and the profession I chose is one of the reasons. Being a journalist inevitably takes you out of your comfort zone on a daily basis. From an interview with a politician you might find yourself trying to understand why fish need to be protected. It’s all in a day’s work and it is all about expanding horizons and seeing life in different ways.
But that can be more difficult for some who work in the same place they socialise, eat…etc… What I am saying is it’s not just about getting off the Island but it’s also about expanding what you do here. What about new skills? Are you an athlete? Have you thought about going to the track on Wednesday nights or what about the races on the weekends? These all put you in touch with different people and acquire new skills for strengthening you as a person.
I know. I know it’s scary and maybe you’re saying ‘well Robyn that really doesn’t help me with the travelling’. But it does. Start small.
If you can walk up to someone new here then you can start speaking to the multitudes in a new hostel in Argentina. If you can find something invigorating about driving along South Shore (I mean seriously take five minutes to enjoy the view over Warwick Long Bay) you will be a happier person when you go to Bali and are awed by the green ensconced temples.
This means becoming involved in life and interested in it. This is why travel is so important. Because it makes us slow down at home and abroad. Because it introduces us to a new way of life and because, hopefully, it expands your views on people, things and the world (yes even discovering new things and people in Bermuda does this). That is why I travel and that is why when I am home I am challenging myself to try new things.
And if you do get away why not make it meaningful than a mall? You’ve heard about genocide, but have you seen it? Nothing quite compares to the child’s face starring at you from behind the glass in Phnom Penh’s Genocide School. There, thousands were tortured by the Khmer Rouge and nearly two-thirds of the population extinguished.
Do you see angry people running around? No. Instead what is shocking is how incredibly friendly and happy the Cambodians are as a people. But you don’t get that from watching TV and you don’t get that from being completely comfortable. At some point your comfort levels will be pushed.
But isn’t that fun? Doesn’t that make life more interesting? Why be bored? Why not meet people who have different views on life? Talk to people who have no concept of where you’re from.
You know what the beauty is? After explaining for the millionth time where Bermuda is and what the Bermuda Triangle isn’t … you will miss your rock and you will “see” home again.
For more information visit me as always at www.robynswanderings.com, e-mail me at robynswanderings@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook fan page Robyn’s Wanderings. Next week: travelling solo by boat….one woman’s struggle to keep travelling.
Robyn's Wanderings 