Does the journey really change us? What is this famous journey that “changed my life, your life or his life”? Beyond hopes and disillusions, here are some elements of the answer
The journey pushes us out of our control zone: it makes us… a philosopher
If you think that travel is dangerous, avoid the routine, it is fatal!
The journey makes us positive, we appreciate more what we have
If you insist on blaming others for slow service, a broken kettle or lack of public transportation while traveling, your trip will become a nightmare.
Like it or not, you will soon be forced to update your priorities, and that will certainly be a very good thing. Because why are you so far away from your sofa and remote control, if not to be disoriented, surprised; to test your skills in the face of the unexpected?
You will soon realize that these disturbances can bring something positive: the satisfaction of being able to deal with problems, discovering yourself as flexible and resourceful.
Those hard times often occupy the best places in our memory because they have been defeated, dissolved. They are transformed into a positive charge that gives strength and confidence.
After testing the system in an African or Asian country, you will not see your country in the same light. You will find it nice, clean and not so bad!
The travel takes us out of our comfort zone and into an effort zone (and that makes us stronger!)
In a comfort zone you control everything, you know what to expect. No secrets, no fantasies, everything is there to satisfy every need. The same street, the same supermarket, the same restaurant, the same friends.
But the comfort zone is also a prison surrounded by barbed wire, knitted of doubts, fears, paralysis, anxieties and preconceived ideas.
Beyond this barrier lie newly gained self-confidence, self-realization or fulfillment of one’s projects, simple pleasures and a fabulous vehicle called “evolution”.
Of course, there are many other ways to get out of your comfort zone than travelling to the end of the world, but travelling is the most beautiful tool!
It forces you to be patient, to improvise, to be open to others. When you are far away from everything, human relationships become fundamental, and adaptability is at its peak because everything around you is constantly changing. And all this increases your happiness hormones, which explode like fireworks and make you alive and happy.
What is the spirit of a champion?
Once upon a time, on the roads to the Himalayas…
I meet Anja and Daniel, a young German couple. For Anja, every day of walking is an ordeal. She suffers, she struggles, she walks painfully. I should point out that Anna has a small handicap, she has no right forearm. We meet several times in the lodges, in the evenings when the backpacks are empty, the stomachs fill up and tongues are happily loosened.
She tells me: “How do you do it, Christine, all alone, loaded like a mule! It’s hard, it’s so hard! »
I said: “No, it’s not difficult, Anya, because I’m here now. The day is over and everything went well. Every day I am victorious. How do I do that? Uh… Every day I have nothing else to do but put one foot in front of the other and admire one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, so it’s not difficult. »
I also tell him with all the sincerity of the world how much I admire her. Because when we walk with sticks, we save about 30% of the effort, and sticks Anja can only use one. But I admire her above all for her determination, she continues on this path despite the discouragement she feels!
She freezes as if under the effect of an electric shock. After a few seconds she says: “But it’s true…” and she is very moved.
When we meet again much later on any street in Kathmandu, our reunion is full of tenderness and joy. This adventure urged her to surpass herself, to no longer see the difficulty of the road and to replace it with the happiness of being there. This trek in Nepal has changed their definition of the word difficult!
Traveling helps us to gain self-confidence
Of course, travel does not magically heal an injured ego or low self-esteem, but sometimes it is enough to take a little trip around the world and realize that we are not so bad!
The most important thing is the energy you release, whether you are a good person or not.
Travel can help us get to know ourselves better and discover who we really are
Travel is also about discovering ourselves and becoming aware of our qualities and defaults
On this occasion we often hear the famous sentence: “This journey has changed my life”
Deep down, every one of us is a champion!
On the way to Sri Lanka, when we set out to conquer Adams Peak (5500 steps that have to be climbed at night to reach the summit and watch the sunrise).
I see Jean-claude, 34 years old, communication agent of the Emergency Hotline (he is the one who picks up the phone when you call for help). He is drenched in sweat, out of breath and in complete confusion. I can feel his panic from afar. He can’t keep up with his friends (who are in top shape), but he keeps running. He collapses every 50 m, frustrated and unhappy. In him the battle is raging, the giving up the climb (ouch! shame) or the persistence (ouch! painful effort).
I allow myself to apostrophize him. I tell him that it is vain to run in such a way that he must walk slowly, at his rhythm, in his steps. That he must not insist on following others. He gently tells me to mind my own business… but there’s still a long way to go.
200 steps later, Jean-Claude is in agony. I come back to him: “Walk with me, I am a turtle! If you walk slowly, you will reach the top“. He is still stubborn, but I start a conversation about his job (which he does with passion). I ask him many questions, to which he answers with enthusiasm. And by looking at nothing, his attention is diverted from the effort, and the steps follow one by one almost effortlessly to the summit.
The first shock for Jean-Claude was that he made it without being aware of it. Once up there, he goes to his group of athletes. After sweating under the effort, we tremble like leaves in the icy wind. Closely huddled in front of the great spectacle of the rising sun, we all keep smiling… well, almost all of us. I see Jean-Claude pass by, whom I congratulate with joy. He immediately replies: “Yes, but it’s super cold!”.
And then the second shock: he looks at me with awe and says: “But I can’t stop whining!”
I nod.
As we go back downstairs, Jean-Claude confides in me that walking with me motivated him well: “I said to myself that if this woman (50 years old, not trained, not super young, no competitive spirit, winning spirit) can do it, I must do it. I have to do it better than her, otherwise it is a shame“.
In other words, for him my performance potential is lower than the sea level. He thinks I am weak, old, extinct.
I answer: “Do you always judge others by their appearance? What do you do with what they are inside? “Do you know those hidden strengths like determination, trust, kindness…“
The third shock, he exclaims: “But I’m such a fool!”
I nod.
I moderate. “It’s good to realize that, don’t worry”. I’m used to it. I’ll settle for the fact that our meeting helped change your point of view“. I could, but I won’t add, “that makes one less fool” because to be honest, Jean-Claude was anything but a fool. He was a nice and honest boy, just a little too… formatted.
Lesson: traveling requires changing filters and glasses. Use all the lessons he gives you to grow up, to be happy and to make others happy at the same time: The sun does not shine for just one person.
A long travel allows to regain the guidance of his life
This innocent teaching underlines the fact that we only do what others expect of us and that we stick to rhythms and commitments that have no value. In some more extreme cases the consciousness is violent. Realizing that the circle to which we want to belong at all costs prevents us from being free, independent and fulfilled is hard, but it moves us forward!
The journey is the departure, but also the return
Traveling is good, but you also have to think about returning!
You are already travelling, that is good, but have you thought about returning? It is one of the most difficult moments of the adventure! Here are some tips to make sure everything goes smoothly.
The journey alone does not change anything, one must be prepared to question oneself
I know many people who tackle personal development processes without travelling and who achieve the same results as those who travel around the world. Sometimes those who return from a journey are as worried as when they left.
For those who think arrogantly and believe in preconceived ideas, the trip will not change their way of seeing the world. They will continue to judge “others” with the certainty that they hold the universal truth. They will seek (and find) confirmation of their beliefs and myths on the journey.
But for those who want to open up, discover themselves, the journey will be a revelation of who they really are, allowing them, if they wish, to continue to blossom and enrich their soul.
To read if you think it is impossible to travel the world
Many dream of traveling, but few realize it
