POSSIBILITY.

I travel because every time I venture out of my comfort zone, I’m reminded that the world is full of people, places, and things, all waiting to be discovered. I travel because when I open myself up to new scenery, I am reminded that the world is full of possibility. And I find that notion pretty inspiring. I was reminded of all of the above on a recent trip to Spain. 

My husband and I flew to Madrid to travel with our friends Rocio and Rodrigo. We had traveled together six years earlier and promised to meet up again in 5 years. I’ll give you one guess why that five-year mark turned into six. (Thank you, COVID.) Our trip had us exploring Rocio and Rodrigo’s city of Madrid, and then traveling together to visit the Island of Formentera and later Ibiza. After a few more days in Madrid, my husband and I headed to northern Spain to visit the region of Burgos. Here we spent a few nights in Lerma and stayed in the Parador of Lerma, a 17th-century palace that has been converted into a Parador. The entire trip… was amazing. (Watch for posts on some of our adventures.)

The trip in all of its nuances confirmed what I say after every trip I take, “Travel… cracks my skull wide open.” A bit intense, perhaps. But It truly happens every time I travel. This trip was no different. As we fully immersed ourselves in the customs, cuisine, daily routines, and culture of Spain, I felt like I was learning something new every minute. And somewhere in the process of all that learning, I realized that with each new experience I had, I got ideas and creative downloads that I could take back home to my “real life.” I wrote this piece from a beach chair in Formentera. Spain. With the sea breeze ruffling my journal and the sun beating down on me, I thought about the possibilities that await us when we take a chance and wander out of our zip codes.

POSSIBILITY #1 - CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD

Travel opens your eyes to the way people go about their daily lives. If your home is in the city and you find yourself in a rural village in Thailand, I bet you might rethink all the gadgets and modern conveniences that you rely on daily as you see how people live happily on so much less. Similarly, if your digs are pretty rural and you find yourself in the middle of bustling Madrid or the like, I guarantee you’ll be soaking in all the nuances of city life. By seeing new places and how people live, we gain a new perspective on how our way of living isn’t the only way to live. We see there are so many ways to live and thrive in our surroundings, which are as diverse as the people who live there.

POSSIBILITY #2 - GAIN A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO BRING BACK HOME

There are so many things you witness when immersed in a new place. From the way kids walk down the street together (a side note as a former middle school teacher - kids are all 100% the same wherever you go. I can smell trouble in Madrid just as easily as I can in South Milwaukee.) to the way families interact in restaurants and stores, or even the way your host makes meals… all of these new experiences are feeding our brain with new data on how things work around the world. Perhaps seeing the way people interact and live gives us insights into how we relate to the world and others. Maybe what we see helps us make improvements in our health, maybe we consider the need to slow down. And maybe, by seeing others interacting with each other, we rethink how we interact with the important people in our lives. The more we see, the more we can use that information to reflect and apply it to our own lives.

POSSIBILITY #3 - REFRESH

How often do we really get a chance to refresh ourselves for longer than the time it takes to hop in the shower? Travel, though it can be grueling and has its challenges, is our chance to STOP, take a breath, and effectively slow our rolls. The act of doing this alone is worth everything and can bring about changes in the way we think that we can take back to our daily lives at home. Plus… let’s not overlook the importance (and NEED) to take the time to stop doing all the crazy things we do when we’re in the thick of life back at home. Travel allows time away from carpools, shopping, cleaning, working, and everything else that adds to our stressful lives. When we step away, we truly can refresh, and come back to the real world with a renewed sense of self.

POSSIBILITY #4 - RENEW RELATIONSHIPS

If you travel alone, your time away gives you a great chance to get to know yourself again. Maybe we’re all used to being alone thanks to the pandemic, but traveling alone and relying upon yourself 100% brings about a certain degree of one-to-one time with yourself that you just don’t get in the comfort of your living room. If you’re with your partner and/or family, you have the opportunity to enjoy new experiences together and bond over moments - whether they’re travel disasters or great times. I mean really, when else other than travel do you have the chance to be with someone for 8-hour plane trips, marathon car rides, or bus trips through mountain villages. If those experiences don’t bring you closer or at least give you lifelong stories, I don’t know what will.

POSSIBILITY#5 - THE CHANCE TO MEET NEW FRIENDS WHO BECOME LIFELONG FRIENDS

I saved the best for last as it’s the reason I’m even writing this piece. I made one of the best decisions of my life in 2012 when I signed up to be an English-speaking volunteer at an English immersion for Spaniards in Spain. (Thank you, Pueblo Ingles!) When I signed up, I knew little about the program, but something told me to go for it. I’m so glad I did - during that week I met new friends from around the world and a special group of friends from Spain and Canada who I now see every year. This wouldn’t have happened if I’d ignored the call to go for it. By saying “yes” to a week in Spain, I went on to take annual trips to Spain to volunteer, start my own English immersion, and (the best) get a “home base” in Spain at my friend Rocio and Rodrigo’s casa. My husband and I call them “the Ro’s” which we translate to mean “our Spanish besties.” Now, my husband and I have a lifetime of memories from trips we’ve taken together both in Europe and the U.S. All because I took a chance in 2012. 

Friendships/relationships that begin while traveling are often some of the strongest we’ll ever experience - another reason it’s so critical to get out there and travel! I realize that travel is more difficult than ever due to COVID and this crazy world we live in. But, I guarantee it’s worth it, and perhaps more necessary than it’s ever been. Whether you venture five minutes or five thousand miles from your house, take the time to see what else is out there and I bet you’ll come back with more than a couple (okay, four) pairs of shoes and some postcards.

Buen viaje, my friends!