The worst part about traveling? But, isn’t traveling just fantastic?
Yes! Of course! It’s the easiest road out there and it’s all flowers and happiness.
Ok then, how could it have any bad part?
Because travel changes us, specially solo travel
Most of those who suffer of this addiction called wanderlust we have something in common. We have all lived, at least, that one trip that has somehow changed us irretrievably. It doesn’t matter if it was while you were lost in some paradise beach in Phuket. Or spending the night under the stars right by the Uluru. Or maybe it was just after enjoying of the eruption of some random volcano in Costa Rica. The result is always the same, a feeling of evolution and change.
That’s specialy true when one is traveling alone. Traveling this way you don’t have the “social buffer”. Since we go solo, the main interaction that will happen during the trip will be between the place where you are going and yourself. Or with the locals. For this reason, the interactions will be deeper and more real, and thus, more likely to change us at a deeper level. As a result, traveling solo affects you more that traveling with other people ever will.
Well, but being changed is not that bad right?
Well, of course not. Like they said a while ago, ¡adapt or perish!
It is always something good to keep on having richer days filled with new experiences. At the end, it is just one of the best ways to grow both as a person and as an individual. But when one travels, this evolution happens at giant steps. You can come back home completely changed after a month of traveling. Or after two weeks. Or after two years. The result is always the same, when the trip is over, you are not the same person that started that adventure. And that is without a doubt some of the worst part about traveling.
Ok then, if everything is great, what’s then the worst part about traveling?
We all have this concept in mind that the world evolves at great speed. That in no time, thousands of things happen and that, sometimes, everything changes so fast that it is complicated to be able to follow its pace. But truth be told, it doesn’t matter how much time you’ve been away, it will all remain the same. Your friends and family will be excited about your return, but as soon as the novelty passes, you will realize that everything’s exactly the same. You’ll go have dinner on Thursday night and to run on Saturday morning. And back to the deadly routine.
You come from far away lands. You have realized how little you know and how tiny you are in comparison with the world out there. And you come back longing for new things and wanting the unknown. It can be a very frustrating situation. Or at least, it was for me.
You may be tempted to give up on that wanderlust feeling and bury that “itch” just to fit again. But don’t do it. Just wait until that next long weekend you have in a couple of months. Or that new city where they are sending you for a conference. Don’t forget about the new tolerance that has grown on you after learning about new cultures, and don’t close your mind just because it’s more open than the ones that surround you. That trip gave you something new. Something precious. Worship it and use it in your future, in your job. For a while, you will think that you are the new weird fish in the pool, but it won’t take long until you realize how precious are your experiences. And how useful will be for you in your life from that day on.
What do you think? Am I the only one with this problem?
