You know when you go from one part of town to another part and realize that this part of town has a somewhat different vibe then the space you’re used to? You notice what’s different, you notice what you like, you notice what you don’t like and then you add these small mental notes to your arsenal of awareness and you go about returning to your neck of the woods. From this, you’ve consciously or sub-consciously returned with a little bit of a new understanding for what it’s like over there, in that part of town, and whether you really realize it or not, you’ve grown, you’ve learned and you’ve let a place you’ve visited show you a possibility you weren’t aware of when you left your house.
Now expand this experience, blow it up into a bigger version then this extremely mild example and consider it traveling. Consider it traveling anywhere from two towns over to across the state, from your neighborhood in the North-East to a city in the Mid-West, from mountains to desert, beach to forest, coast to coast, country to country, whatever it may be, my point is that it’s important . . . especially in your 20s.
This summer, from small travels to big travels, I discovered a revelation regarding them all. The more I experienced within a new place, the more I mentally evolved. The more I had a better understanding of the dynamics of being human, the more I understood the beauty it has to offer. Maybe this isn’t even a revelation because you could probably assume this would happen from traveling, but this is your reassurance.
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get a chance to explore some great parts of London. I only had five days and the city is huge, but one thing I made an effort to do was to mainly explore places that I hadn’t seen in tourist pamphlets or commercialized content. I wanted to see local London, the real London. Of course I spent some time visiting popular sights I knew I had to see, but other then that, I filled my notebook with recommendations and research that would lead me on a true artistically and culturally enriching experience, one that I knew that would open my mind to a whole new, unlocked world. Now, I understand not everyone has the chance to venture across the pond, but my main point and passion about traveling doesn’t revolve around how far you travel, it revolves around what you take from immersing yourself in a place that has something new to offer you.
I get it, we’re all confined to a comfortable space; we fall into a routine and we enjoy this comfort. I’ve been there, you’ve been there, we’ve all been there. Yet, constantly confining yourself to a routine is limiting. By experiencing new places, we are opening ourselves up to what the world has to offer, to what the world can teach us; these experiences can’t be taught or explored through a screen. Even the smallest of explorations can lead to such fulfillment. Explore a new hiking trail, some place 20 minutes away that you’ve heard has some cool spots. Try that new restauraunt across town that you’ve been dying to go to. Take a road trip to a near-by city you’ve always wanted to explore. No matter what it is, seek to wander (safely and rationally, of course.) I can promise you that by making an effort to travel and discover while you’re in your 20s, while your mind is still expanding, searching for answers and not too restricted to the consistent schedule of the corporate world, you’ll learn things about yourself you wouldn’t have learned otherwise.
Now, I’m not saying go out and disregard all responsibility to become an explorer of all undiscovered land, I’m humbly saying reserve time while you have it to let your presence in a new place expand your mind. As I always say, you are the key to everything you want to be. Your life is only as enriched as you let it be and adventure can bring so much enrichment into your life. So make your journey remarkable and make it worthwhile.