Why I Travel

“The world is a book. People who don’t travel read only one page.” ––St. Augustine

Note: For more current writings, musings, and journeys of a different kind, join me at my current home on Substack. It’s called The Journey Home, and you a find it, and me, HERE.

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138 days. That’s how long we spent on a ship traveling around the world last year. This was not our first extended rodeo, mind you. It’s our third. (You can read about our last global adventure five years ago in my “Love Letter to the World” here.)

As much as I’d like to think I’ve got this travel thing down, reentry does not get easier. Not when you come home five months later so utterly filled up and expanded by the experience.

So how does one begin to unpack it all? (And I don’t mean clothes.)

Where does one even begin?

Experiencing the magic

I could describe the magic of sailing the fjords of New Zealand, the engineering marvels of the Panama and Suez canals, and the winding tributaries of the Mekong Delta.

I could go native and describe what it was like to commune with lagoon sharks in Bora Bora, nesting penguins in Australia, and Komodo dragons in Indonesia.

I could talk about the (white-knuckle) thrill of riding on horseback through the high mountains of Java and traveling by 4×4 jeep through the desert canyons of Wadi Rum (and having tea with Bedouins afterwards).

Yeah, as I reflect on what we’ve gone and done, it would be easy to imagine experiencing one of those things in a lifetime. But all of them!? How does one even wrap their brain and heart around all of it!?

Time traveling

There’s a whole other dimension to this adventure story: time travel.

I could talk about the fact that humans have occupied the planet for thousands of years and their presence (and ‘stuff’) is still with us. Yes, the past has left its dizzying imprint everywhere – massive overlays of wonder and ruin –– for us to stumble on, swoon over, and ponder.

Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of “time zones.”

From Mayan, Egyptian, Hindu, and Etruscan sacred sites, to the fanciest 1st century villas in Ephesus and Pompeii, to the oldest cathedral in Britain, architectural wonders in Barcelona, and battles fought at Pearl Harbor and Normandy – going on a deep dive of places and events that have shaped our world was such an awe-inspiring privilege and revelation. Not to mention trippy!

And we drank it all up!

Overflowing

And there’s the Holy Land – a place where the spigot was so strong it knocked us off our feet.

I would need pages to capture the powerful (and cleansing) impact that visiting Bethlehem and the Old City of Jerusalem had on me. From the spontaneous singing of Silent Night at the site of Jesus’ birth, to placing my written prayers into the Wailing Wall in the Jewish quarter, to taking in the hauntingly beautiful Muslim call to prayer as we slowly traced the steps that Jesus took to his death.

It was positively surreal.

How is it possible that three of the largest religious traditions can take up so much space in such a small space, all at the same time?

So much still to process.

Shifting gears

Then there’s ship life. I could fill a book about sea days. My favorite days.

I could talk about the mesmerizing effects of traveling at 15 knots, the endlessly fascinating seascapes, sunsets, and wildlife that swoops unbeckoned to take your breath away.

I could talk about the food that I could not resist.

I could describe my squirmy, tortured encounters with Bridge, a new game for me that challenged every fiber in my head. How can learning something as seemingly innocuous as a card game bring up so much unprocessed, inner crap?  (Did I mention that the clearing journey never ends?)

Making connections

And of course, there’s the people you meet.

I could talk about fellow passengers, kindred spirits who share the same passion you do for travel and are willing to put their lives on hold for five months.

I could go on and on about the crew; how they hailed from every corner of planet; how they made our day, every day, by touching our hearts in a million different ways.

I could tell stories about the people we encountered at every port – from tour guides, bus drivers, shop keepers, kids on the street… you name it – all of them so kind, so eager to share their world with us, so grateful for our presence. (And PS, big shout out to the woman in Rhodes, Greece, who noticed that I had forgotten my purse on a park bench and raced to return it to me.)

I could even go existential here and talk about the extreme conditions that millions have to endure just to survive: the chaos, heat, noise, poverty, injustice, bureaucracy, effects of climate change…

Raw and painful sometimes, there is no escaping the undeniable truths – the struggles, contradictions, mysteries – that traveling the world offers up (and urges us to embrace).

Stepping outside of ourselves

(to find ourselves)

In the end it all of this boils down to the question of travel itself, and why I travel.

You could say that most people travel to leave home. I choose travel as a way to come home.

Let me explain:

Travel is disruptive (in a good way). It disrupts the usual (and sometimes stuck) patterning of things. It can turn everything on its head, change how you see things, surprise you in ways you never imagined… (Yes, that is really us hanging by the rafters 😉)

Travel awakens. While adapting to changes that mess with our need for comfort and routine is not always easy, it is the very messiness — and surrendering to it — that turns up a light. It engages the senses. It enlivens. You realize that it doesn’t take much to awaken to life’s simple pleasures: a sudden rainstorm, a stray mango that drops in your path, a kind stranger stopping to offer directions.

These things have magic powers, if we allow them, to lift us beyond ourselves.

Travel humbles. Travel has a sneaky way of making most small, petty concerns recede or fall away. It also has a way of showing how blessed we are that we get to live in a country that enjoys the kind of peace and prosperity that many nations would kill for. And do.

Travel clarifies. There’s no better way to know what we value than to be away from it for a while. Coming home will do that. It isn’t until you walk in the door that you see (or feel), with sometimes painful clarity, what fits and what no longer fits into your home and life (read: clutter). You may also realize, as I often do, that clearing it is a breeze when you find yourself saying: “I can live without this [thing, issue, relationship] because, wait, I already have!”

Seeing the big picture

Until I unpack some more, here’s one more thought to consider:

People who’ve traveled into outer space and seen our beautiful, fragile planet from a distance say that it changes them to their core. They will never be the same again.

I would wager that something similar happens any time we step outside our world and enter another with an open mind and a spacious heart. When we can do that, when we can experience the world as it is, not as we think it should be, we have changed. We will never be the same again.

We will be lighter and freer and more spacious. And I daresay the world will be a bit lighter, and freer, and more spacious, too, as a result.

Tracking changes, making memories

If there is anything that has helped me find greater meaning in the journeys I undertake, it would be through photo taking and video making. It helps me make connections, reflect more deeply on what I see, and “remember” as in to call back and gather all the scattered parts of myself.

Anything you do to record an experience will elevate it and you.

Want more?

Would you like to experience the world as we did in real time? You can view my chronicles @spaciousway on Instagram. With photos, reels, and stories (marked “World 1, 2, 3…” in the highlights), there’s plenty there to transport you.

You can also watch the short video below. It is my ode to the journey and to the best traveling partner one could ever ask for (my husband, Jay). Getting to do this with my beloved was the biggest blessing of all!

Your turn

Where do you want to go? Is there a place that calls to you? A place where you can down-shift, create memories, surrender to what wants to be revealed, reconnect with what makes your heart sing?

In the end you do not need to go far to turn your mind on its head and experience some spacious shifts in your life. You can start stepping outside of yourself right now. Set aside a few minutes today and go for an awe walk. You may just come back feeling lighter than when you started. Here’s how.

HAPPY TRAVELS!

(VIDEO: Be sure to turn up the sound)

 

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