Are you daydreaming about your next adventure and thinking of it along the lines of perfection? Well, don’t. Like life, traveling is more realistic and fact-based than our imagination intends. I’m not cynical. Nor am I a pessimist. I’m in love with getting away from reality just like you. Sure, for a short 3-day weekend, you may run into the most perfect itinerary and the most amazing trip of your life - or in my case the most perfect trek ever. Yet, be forewarned. The longer the duration is of your travel, the more chances you will run into imperfection. That is not a sad state of affairs. That’s the flow of life at its finest.
So get off that cloud of imagination of yours and be real. Bad things happens. And they do so on the trail, or that boat, or bus or plane. Let’s not romanticize travel as if it’s been perfected by someone. Case in point, when I went away for a year, I had heartbreaks, loneliness, falling off the mountain, mysterious illnesses and work-related stress. But, perhaps, the worse of it all is feeling lost in a daze as to what the hell I’ve been doing with my life all these years ― How I incurred so much debt that now enslaves my mind and freedom? Or why does my daily life feel robotic and scripted? And painfully I ask the ultimate question, “Why did I let this happen?”
The truth is, you shouldn’t always believe the tips and advise given on travels. They will often neglect to tell you the challenges of being on the road. You learn best by just doing it. Be mindful of your fears and anxieties. Learn the means to pacify them. But also remember that despite all the preparations, imperfect scenarios will still creep in on you. And that’s okay. Knowing that fact will empower you to be courageous even if it means you do so half-pretentiously. No need to fuss and panic, really. Realize that you also signed up for that. You have to accept the nature of travel in that it is there to teach you the lessons life intended for you, at times even learning the hard way.
As I faced the painful truths that traveling imposed upon me, I whined a little and resisted answering the tough questions. Soon enough, I learned this is not the best way to handle the downside of travel. You must deliberately take a break from moving, sit on the summit of a mountain on a glorious half cloudy day and just open all your senses to the world. Shut the mind up and be present. Then ask yourself again the question, “Why did I let this happen?” As fear subsides, answers come. The next thing you know, clarity ensues and the experience leaves you full of wisdom and courage. Declare to the world you ain’t perfect and grasp that concept fully as a part of your “new” self. Just think - if traveling puts you in such an unpleasant predicament, be it being faced with long overdue questions about life, or finding romance that fades away with time, or the awful stomach illness you’ve been dreading, or getting injured from falling off the mountain, you are as imperfect as you will ever be, and no travel can change that, not even the one that you wish in your heart to be the travel of your dreams.
And that is perfectly fine, you see, for all of us who manage to run away from our imperfect reality. At least, you survived the ordeals of travel with a stronger body, mind and spirit. As a perk, you can tell the stories in your manner of choosing and intentionally neglect to tell them how much you cried, hurt, felt deathly ill or despised your past life along the way. So, next time, reconsider the thought of desiring to travel forever because that would mean enduring a series of imperfections just like your daily realities absent traveling. No, you will not get to sit on a bunch of fluffy clouds as you envisioned. Instead, you will get to hold that mirror steadily in order to see all parts of you and life at their finest, and otherwise.
About the Author: Brown Gal Trekker (BGT) is a nomad at heart who loves mountains and survives the wilderness to blog about it. Check out more trekking advise & stories via the blog, Brown Gal Trekker (www.browngaltrekker.com). Interested in trekking with other solo travelers? Visit www.peakexplorations.com for budget-friendly treks worldwide. For BGT’s non-profit, Trails Without Borders (TWB), which works on various social projects in mountain and rural regions globally to promote trail building, sustainable tourism, education and environmental conservation, please visit www.trailswithoutborders.org.