Travelling to escape VS Travelling to expand

I have always been a traveller at heart. Since my teenage years, I started saving money for that sole purpose. Whether it be solo, with friends, family, whichever form it took, I was either away or dreaming about and planning my next destination.

As I set foot on the ground of my first destination on my 6 month journey backpacking solo, a sense of despair I couldn’t understand took over me it. And then it hit me. Travelling always gave me a sense of aliveness, wonder, connection, adventure. While there is nothing wrong with that, there is a flaw when its an avoidance, self-preserving mechanism. I realised at that moment I used travelling as an escape to the misery of my reality, but I couldn’t escape anymore! My misery had followed me all the way to the mesmerizing, awe-inspiring Fiji Islands.

While I was ‘’stuck’’ on the other side of the planet, on my own, for 6 months, with only companion fear and hopelessness, I decided I would push through it no matter what, and gain the most from this experience. Little did I know, I was in on a rollercoaster ride of the most personally challenging experience of my life. Though I didn’t gain what I set off for : freedom, happiness, joy and lightness of heart; it did give me the tools and foundation for what I needed to start my real journey back to myself.

When I came back, I made the decision to call it quits on travelling for the moment, take a break and turn the compass inwards. I started on my real journey to self-discovery, into the depths of my wounds I was so cleverly trying to discard. Two years along the line of being fully immersed in self-work, travelling had vanished from my world. And the more my life here became enjoyable, the less I needed travelling to escape my reality ; I had nothing to escape from anymore!

I figured travelling was just not necessary anymore.

As I was recovering from a break-up and felt on the edge of a new beginning, a friend randomly asked me , why don’t you set off and travel for a bit? Just the thought of it caught me so off guard, my reaction was ; Uhh no, why would I do that ?

I had labelled travelling to escapism, and therefore ‘’bad’’, and had forgot all the amazing wonders and magic of it. As much as escaping was true in my prior years, it wasn’t necessarily true anymore. I pondered on that idea for a couple of days and the desire to travel fired back on me ! From a completely different perceptive this time. It is true that I don’t need to leave and travel anymore, I can now simply want to!

As an adventure, as a calling for fun and exploration, to get inspired, to feel expansion and flow, to network and create new connections, to surround yourself in wonder and bliss, in an uplifting environment. The state of mind when travelling is so open and spontaneous, it takes you on endless magical journeys! You can even go on ‘travelling mode’ , and don’t even need to leave anywhere, just getting that same sense of freedom and openness to attract new experiences ! Being abroad and out of routine simply facilitates that process. Travelling can truly be one of the most enriching, uplifting and awe-inspiring experiences when done with the right intention.

Not as a patch, but as a catalyst for a more expansive and inspired life!