What kind of traveler are you?

How do you find your way on a strange road in a different country? You consult a map and chalk out the best route in advance. You research your route online. You read how others experienced this country, its culture and values. Your plan looks great. Until the weather takes a turn for the worse or your car breaks down or a fellow traveler falls ill without warning.

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

A million things can go wrong when you travel despite careful planning. Especially if you want to stop, explore, and experience the rhythm of a different culture. Things don’t go as expected but you handle them all. What seemed terrifying then seems funny later. You laugh at yourself. And you embark on your next trip to a another place in search of new stories.

There is another way to travel – a package tour where you are stuffed into a bus with a group of strangers to a get a sanitized version of the culture. This blitzkrieg travel is on a strict schedule that everyone is expected to follow. The group listens to the guide talk while looking at the outside world through tinted glasses. They hardly stop to explore or study the culture but hurry from one place to another as dictated by the tour company’s program.

“People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground.” – Marcel Proust

Unfortunately, choosing the package tour method does not work in life because it is a journey you need to learn to navigate alone. No one can walk it for you. You can, of course, surround yourself with people but only you can experience it. Things can go wrong and life will not always happen the way you want it but it can seem complex or easier to handle depending on how you learn to experience it. Life is a series of experiences. If becomes lighter if you learn to observe every experience, shed what you don’t need to carry anymore . Life helps those who travel light and move forward with a smile.

You can choose to believe that life will go exactly how you want it to go by choosing to see the world through tinted glasses. At some point, though, your experience of life becomes less enjoyable when your life is determined by someone else’s experience of it. You will never develop a holistic view of your life on your own nor flourish. Who wants to live a life based on someone else’s itinerary? Life is never perfect but it is very kind to those who are eager to experience it without fear.

When you apply a formulaic way of living based on some external source without considering the stories that have shaped and influenced you, you become a poor imitation of someone else’s journey. You can certainly look to others for inspiration and general guidance but unless you understand the stories that make you who you are and how you want your life to unfold, you will never be able to express it in a joyful manner.

“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aristotle

How do you know if you are on the right path? If you need constant external validation to justify who you are and your way of living, you are on the wrong path. Your life path cannot be predetermined by anyone else. A vibrant life can only happen by exploring, studying, making mistakes, learning, and creating your own route.

The type of traveler you are defines your experience of life. What will you choose to be? The bold traveler who creates your own experiences or be part of a package tour and experience a sad imitation of life?