I think travelling can actually transform your life. As a matter of fact, I know it. Here’s the story.
A few years ago, I was living in Toronto and things were not going so well – I was stagnating. I wasn’t going out; there were no inspiring women in my life; I was bored, tired and angry.
So I left. It took a bit of faith and belief in myself, but why not? I wasn’t enjoying myself anyways. I got an airplane ticket, packed my things and went to Spain. And you know what? The trip actually did transform my life.
I first spent a couple of days in Barcelona, checking out the sites. The first night was difficult, with all the jetlag and stress I had. But by lunchtime the next day, something had already happened. I felt great!
I wandered aimlesslly for a few hours, absorbing the atmosphere of the ancient streets, the gothic horror and classical elegance, the smells and sounds of a grinding, bustling, loud city. Then it was on to a few museums and the Sagrada Familia, a neo-Gothic cathedral designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. When I looked at the nativity facade, which takes up one side of the building, I felt like it was the most awe-inspiring building I had ever seen. The faces seemed to actually be crying in front of me – they seemed so real! I had no idea how much emotion could be sculpted into stone. It was weird and wonderful.
From that first, sunny, warm day in Barcelona, walking around in my T-shirt and light jacket, I experienced a shift and my thinking and emotions. I felt better and my thinking got more positive. Not to mention that at +17 celcius, it was a veritable heatwave when compared to the -15 temperatures back in freezer-land.
A couple of days later, I headed off to Galicia, the little-known top left corner on the map of the Iberian peninsula.
As luck would have it, only a few days into my Galician adventure, something wonderful happened. I had the sexiest girl I would see throughout my entire trip flirting with me. Within a few days, we were going out and having a good time. That was the second shift in my feelings and thoughts. New place, new surroundings, new experiences, new girls!
Eventually, after some twists of fate, I flew down to Andalucia, which I did not like all that much. And yet, it was there that I made the greatest shift I had made in years. I made a new friend who was in a similar predicament in his life. After talking extensively, he challenged me to think and learn how to overcome life’s “problems,” rather than complain all the time like a sissy. It was there that I took the first steps on my path to self-improvement. This chance encounter changed my life forever.
As a matter of fact, that’s how I ended up writing this blog. If I hadn’t taken that trip, if I had not taken the plunge, you wouldn’t be reading this now and I would probably be doing some dumb job I hate back in freezer town, otherwise known as boring Toronto.
So, after going through a few intense years of studying self-improvement, taking massive action and completely transforming myself and my life, I decided to start this blog in order to share my knowledge with interested people.
In the end, there is no reason to continue on the same path in life when your life sucks. Think about it. There is nothing to lose, really. You make a commitment to transform your life through travel, you pick a place and you go there. At the very least, it’s an opportunity to try new things and to discover if there is something out there that inspires you.
As I already mentioned, you might meet people who will change your life completely. Many people have met the love of their life while travelling.
You don’t have to know anyone where you’ll be going. As a matter of fact, it’s better that you know absolutely nobody. If you go to a friendly place with not too many tourists, the locals will open conversations with you. You won’t have to do anything. In Galicia, anyone can go to a nice cafe, get a drink and start chatting. When I was there, people tended to come to me, rather than the other way around.
And, of course, since nobody in this new place will know you, this completely frees you from the expectations placed on you by others in your life. You no longer have to pretend to be who your friends or family want you to be. You can become more free to be yourself without constraints.
For me, this was very important. Getting rid of all the psychological baggage that other people placed on me. By leaving Toronto, I left behind all the expectations and pressures that other people had been putting on me.
Often, when you want to make personal change in your life, it is the other people in your life who resist it. They have a nominalized concept of who you are. If you don’t conform to it, it’s not “you.” I say, screw it!
In a way, living abroad is not only an opportunity to see new places, meet new people and come into contact with new ideas, it’s an opportunity to let your soul fly freely, free of the constraints of the past.
The same streets, the same faces, the same job, the same errands, the same deafening boredom. Why bother living like that?
Sometimes leaving the place that ties you down to your routine is a great alternative. If you don’t like the change, you can always go back to your boring life.
I, for one, will never do that.
Be well.
Konstantin.