We Travel Not To Escape Life But For Life Not To Escape Us
I’m writing this whilst I’m 35,000 feet in the sky, on my way from Melbourne to Indonesia. It’s the first of my travels for 2015 but one I’ve been quietly counting down the days ever since I booked my flights late last year. It's got me thinking about why we travel...
Why, for some of us, wanderlust is something you can’t just shake off, get it over and done with, or get a ‘quick fix’ of. One thing that I have come to realize is that: travelling doesn’t actually get travelling out of your system. If anything it fuels it. It makes you long for more… More places to explore, more experiences to live in, more memories to create, more road trips, flights and adventures.
Perhaps it’s because when we travel we feel, in all depths. The feeling of exhilaration when finally arriving – out of the airport and into a new life, the awe-inspiring feeling of seeing a new place for the very first time, the feeling of excitement when we finally get to meet with our long distance friend for lunch in their city, the highs of adrenalin when we choose to do something because 'when in rome' or 'you only live once' are acceptable justifications, or the panic of misplacing important documents, lows of being stolen from or missing a flight, even the bittersweet feeling of leaving a new city you’ve fallen in love with to move onto the next.
I ripped out a quote from a magazine the other day and stuck it on the top of my inspiration board. It was five simple words that I think really gets down to the root of it all, pretty places and everything else aside, it read:
“To travel is to evolve” —Pierre Bernard
When we travel, we don’t just travel. We learn, we laugh, we love, gain courage, conquer fears, and can be anyone we want to be. When we travel we feel, in all depths. We change. We adapt. We evolve. Everything you could ever possibly imagine is out there, all within reach and ready to be explored.
Travel makes us feel alive; it's a source of inspiration, and for that we stay close – passport in one hand and a sense of curiosity in the other.
Stay close to what makes you feel alive. Life is waiting for you, and it’s true – we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
Live life large. You only live once, after all. Make it an adventure.
