Traveling for inspiration | Travel Research Online

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Traveling for inspiration

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden

We all seek inspiration. Thoreau sought out the quiet solitude of Walden Pond to ponder life. I travel for the same experience. Travel is a big part of my personal psyche, and I’m guessing you share my passion for being on the road. But over the past two years, we have largely been relegated to a more internalized understanding of our motivations for travel. 

I have no doubt my backyard can be as wonderous as Antarctica, but the stimulation of travel somehow predisposes my mind to be elevated to a different level. Creative thinking requires raw material and I now know my backyard to a greater degree than I thought possible.  But I understand the awe we often have the privilege of experiencing while traveling exists not “out there” but somewhere deep inside each of us. 

We always risk the curse of familiarity, and we can become complacent with our internal ponderings. One of the most interesting side-effects of the entire Covid-19 situation for me has been the way time has taken on a very odd rhythm. Units of time, hours, days, weeks come and go with unusual pacing. It has been difficult to keep track of projects and maintaining my attention span is a forced effort. I feel more like an observer right now than a participant. Anyone else having a similar experience? 

I suspect getting back to traveling may assist me in overcoming this odd state of mind. So, I intend to finally travel more in 2022 and look forward to the end of the stasis we have all endured.  I will begin slowly and increase both the duration and distance of my travels until I am on a continent in the Eastern Hemisphere, somewhere in Asia. 

Not all productive activity looks like work. Sometimes it involves feeding the mind the raw material it needs to stay refreshed and healthy. I intend to go looking for those resources.

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