Why do people travel when it would be more comfortable to stay home, enjoying a known and secure enviroment and save the hard earned money for 'better' things? Is it the desire to flee from the regular daily demands that the everyday enviroment imposes? Or is it just the lust to discover new places, people and cultures?
I ask myself the same thing everytime I press the buy button on Travelocity.com, United.com or Kayak.com. Why would you want to leave someting that is secure and good for something unknown and in many cases is an uncalculated risk? The risk-reward ratio is known and easily calculated in your comfort zone but becomes very volatile once you are outside that zone.
I know, I know - I'm leading you on. It's all about the uncalculated risk. Most people are okay with risk as long as it can be calculatd. But if you can calculate a risk that also means that the upside is limited.
The cool thing with traveling is that you'll never know what you might encounter. Every trip is a blank sheet that needs to be scribbled on. The pleasure of visiting a new city for the first time is awesome. If you have done your homework you'll know a few things but never enough to prepare you for that new experience.
Everyday is like being reborn, having the pleasure of starting over with a clean slate. Just finding a place to have breakfast at has it challenges. All your regular routines are being turned upside-down.
Traveling is the best cure for suburban boredom. Done right, it's the antithesis of calculated risk. It makes you more humble, more understanding and less of a know-it-all. It forces you to be open-minded and not take anything for granted. Traveling might make you really wise, in due time, if you are prepared to listen and learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment